


Full Blown Love

by yibaek



Series: heartlines 'verse [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: A Couple of Mild Smut-ish Scenes, Angst, Anxiety, Brief Recount of Homophobic Parents, Competition, Crying, Heartlines Sequel, Jealousy, Lack of Communication, Love, M/M, happy endings all around, minor injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-22 21:54:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13773348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yibaek/pseuds/yibaek
Summary: Baekhyun and Yixing work their way through their not-so-perfect relationship while preparing for auditions to perform together in their college's Spring Concert.or, The Heartlines sequel no one asked for.





	Full Blown Love

**Author's Note:**

> surprise?
> 
> i didn't write heartlines with the intention to write a sequel... hell, i still need to go back and edit heartlines itself, but for about a year now, i've been haunted by that video of yixing performing in a cut up norma jean shirt (if u remember: heartlines zyx loves wearing old band t-shirts) and all that i could imagine was zyx practicing in that shirt and baekhyun watching him and drooling. until a few months ago. ideas suddenly started coming to me and idk, this happened. even if i'm not totally happy with how heartlines turned out, i still love this universe and their relationship more than anything else i've created, so it made me really happy writing this, even if it did get stressful at times when i got stuck.
> 
> i'd quickly like to give a giant THANK YOU to rusty, who read a good chunk of this when i was still unsure how exactly to end it. without your comments and encouragement, i genuinely don't think this would be done now, or possibly ever. so thank you so much!!
> 
> okay, i hope you guys enjoy.

Baekhyun’s breaths fall from his swollen lips as he sighs, high-pitched and pleased as can be with his fingers dug into Yixing’s soft hair and sweaty back.

Yixing’s face is buried in Baekhyun’s neck, skin between his teeth and a quiet moan low in his throat.

Baekhyun’s body buzzes as it undulates under Yixing’s, seeking so much contact, too much contact, as much contact as he can possibly manage. He can never be close enough to Yixing, never ever, always determined to feel, hear the heartlines of his beating heart against his own.

_“I love you.”_

And now Baekhyun’s heart swells, the whispered words kissing his skin with the morning light streaming through the blinds of their bedroom window and the soft sheets caressing Baekhyun’s legs when he shifts. They’re almost gone; they usually are by the time they reach their end, not surviving the way they scramble to be closer every few moments.

_”Yixing._ My Yixing.” Yixing’s lips find his, so Baekhyun sighs his next words right into Yixing’s mouth. _”I love you so much. I love you more than anything.”_

“I know. Me too. _Fuck—_ Baekhyun—“

“Me too, me too—“

Baekhyun gasps as Yixing pulses, and surges up to kiss his neck, reveling in Yixing’s moans that vibrate in his ear, all but clawing at Yixing’s back as they rock their hips in time, and even still, in Yixing’s high, his hand finds its way to Baekhyun and brings him home as well, until they’re a mess of harsh panting and tangled limbs, holding each other close despite how overheated they are. 

“Fuck, you’re amazing,” Yixing whispers, kissing his way up Baekhyun’s jaw until their lips meet in a familiarly lethargic kiss. Baekhyun’s hand rests on the back of Yixing’s head, holding him in place instead of responding, parting his lips for his boyfriend while a blush that’s not from their exertion flourishes on his cheeks. 

“Mm, Baekhyunnie,” Yixing murmurs after a while. Baekhyun doesn’t answer, deciding that maybe kissing is what he wants to do for the rest of his life, kissing _Yixing._ He meets this predicament every morning and every night. This desire that he never wants to leave bed as long as Yixing is in it, but Yixing always has to rain on his parade— “Baekhyunnie,” Yixing giggles into his mouth. “We need to shower and go to class.”

Baekhyun whines and shakes his head, pulling Yixing fully on top of him and wrapping his arms around his neck to firmly keep them in place. “No,” he mumbles pitifully against Yixing’s chin. Yixing kisses his nose.

“It’s Friday~” he sings with the brightest grin. “I’ll bring home your favorite ice cream if you bring home my favorite cookies. You can pick the movie.”

Baekhyun resents the way his lips quirk up on their own. It _is_ Friday. They have movie nights most Fridays, whether it’s just them, with Luhan and Minseok, or with Jongdae and Sehun or all of the above. It just depends on who has work and who doesn’t. But tonight it’s just Yixing and Baekhyun. Baekhyun and Yixing. Baekhyun’s favorite combination of the group. (Don’t tell Jongdae.)

Yixing’s already-triumphant grin is the last push Baekhyun needs to agree. He groans. “Fine. But can we—um.” The words stop short in his throat and frustration churns in his gut. This—Baekhyun hates this the most, that he still can’t voice everything he wants to say as comfortably as Yixing has always been able to. It’s almost been a year since Yixing returned to South Korea for good, and Baekhyun is like a brand new person in the best way, more comfortable, more himself, but sometimes he still gets nervous around Yixing and their friends, sometimes he still gets too embarrassed to say things out loud like _can we shower together?_

But one of the best things about Yixing is that he always seems to _understand_ whatever it is Baekhyun is trying to say or do, innocent or less-so. It’s always been like they’re on the same wavelength, but the longer they’re together, the more they really get to know each other past fleeting summers and desperate emails and phone calls, it just becomes truer.

Yixing’s grin softens. “Yeah baby, let’s go.”

—————

Moving in with Yixing, Luhan, and Minseok was a dream come true for Baekhyun. There was so much freedom thrust upon him, and just the thought that he no longer had to sneak out in the middle of the night to sneak kisses with Yixing had been near-overwhelming.

It was beyond a dream come true, really, but also unexpectedly soon.

So soon, in fact, he was actually crashing in Yixing’s bed across the street before they even had a chance to move into the shared house. Just a few months after Yixing returned.

Baekhyun rotated, really. A couple of nights a week he’d go between Sehun and Jongdae’s houses, and the rest were spent at Luhan’s. Some days he’d stay late at the library just so Yixing and Luhan didn’t get sick of him too quickly, even though every time he got back, Yixing would hold him close as if he knew exactly what Baekhyun was doing, even though neither of them ever said anything.

It was a falling out with Baekhyun’s parents that did it, or, with his mother specifically. He knew it would happen one day, that one day he would either slip up or just grow too fed up to deal with their strict bullshit anymore, but October of The Year of Yixing’s Return was much sooner than expected.

The day had been like any other. Baekhyun had slept in, fixed himself lunch, watched a little TV, and waited for Yixing to arrive from college so they could do their homework together. All of Baekhyun’s classes were online with the local community college, so he only had to sit down for the rare seminar on his computer every now and then as a requirement while Yixing started his first semester at the local Fine Arts Institute. But online classes were harder than he expected, because he couldn’t focus. A classroom forced him to focus on the subject at hand, barring distractions, but at home there was too much to take his attention away. Studying with Yixing was only distracting sometimes, when they could no longer be good around each other, but mostly it proved as Baekhyun’s best motivation.

So Baekhyun always waited for Yixing, and this day was no different.

They sat side by side on Baekhyun’s bed, each with a textbook. Yixing was writing notes and Baekhyun had a highlighter cap in his mouth as he highlighted text. They worked mostly silently, Yixing only responding to Baekhyun’s frustrated mumbles over math with absent-minded pats to the head or cheek, giggling if Baekhyun got a little too curse-happy.

It was weird, if anything, studying in Baekhyun’s room, his space, because they usually did at Luhan’s, but Baekhyun’s parents would be out until late that night, and a break in routine is never the worst thing. Baekhyun liked having Yixing inside his bedroom so much more than watching him outside the window, liked pretending that the entire house was theirs, that time like this wasn’t precious.

Thoughts and feelings like that would probably always be Baekhyun’s downfall.

It wasn’t even like it happens in the movies; his mother didn’t burst in on them making out or having sex. All they were doing was taking a probably unneeded break—because Baekhyun was staring at Yixing instead of his homework—rested on their sides and facing each other, chatting softly about their day and holding hands between them. Baekhyun’s not even sure she saw the holding hands part but she just _knew,_ she could _tell._ Everyone can.

She cursed, and she asked who Yixing was, despite him having been a part of Baekhyun’s life for years, despite having met him too many times to count, and it’s most probably _that_ that made Baekhyun answer through gritted teeth, _“My boyfriend,”_ without thinking, because how could anyone be so blind to Yixing’s light?

The thought didn’t hit him until later, wrapped up in Yixing’s blanket and arms after packing up his most important belongings that he maybe could have gotten around it, he maybe could have talked his way out of his mother’s red vision, convinced her they were just chatting, prevented her from bringing his father into it and turning everything into a screaming match, but there was a part of him that was so… relieved for everything to be out in the open. 

Every degrading word from his mother’s mouth was expected, after everything she had to say about her “Lesbian Secretary,” Baekhyun knew exactly what to expect. But what hurt the most was that Yixing had to hear it all too, because Yixing refused to leave his side despite Baekhyun yelling at him to go home so he could sort this out on his own.

But Yixing stood strong, stronger than Baekhyun did, not interjecting much but mostly doing his best to soothe Baekhyun, to be his moral support, and in the end, when Baekhyun could hardly see through his tears of anger, Yixing stepped in and wiped his cheeks, told his parents that he would help Baekhyun pack up his things, because although they hadn’t told him to get out yet, Yixing couldn’t bear to leave him in a house so toxic, he told them that Baekhyun has always deserved better than them, that Yixing has been picking up the pieces they left for _years_ with his mouth sealed shut.

_”My mother loves Baekhyun, by the way. We Skype her together every week. She can never tell me enough how lucky I am to have found someone so precious to spend my life with. And I agree. I’m way too lucky. How could you, his parents, not see that as well?”_

Baekhyun’s tears faded into hiccups, his mother stormed out of the room and the house, and his father watched the boys quietly for a moment before silently nodding and exiting to his bedroom.

Baekhyun had collapsed into Yixing’s arms, exhausted and shutting down all of Yixing’s apologies, and then they packed.

Late the next day, Luhan came to Yixing’s bedroom door with an envelope addressed to Baekhyun.

It was from his father.

_I don’t condone this behavior of yours,_ the letter inside read, _but you are still my son and despite what that boy thinks, you are precious to me. I can see why you may not think so, however. Your mother is firm in her beliefs and likely will not budge. I must stand by her side and maybe given enough time I can wear her down. For now, I will hand over the money from your account that was meant for when you turn 21. It should help you find a place to live and put you through college and then some. I’m sorry. Your Father._

Attached was a check with so many zeros Baekhyun couldn’t even process them, and at first he considered tearing the check up, but after everything his parents _didn’t_ do for him in his life, he decided he deserved this one thing, and the next day, Luhan’s mother took him to the bank to help him open an account.

He’s lucky he managed to surround himself with the good people he has, otherwise he doesn’t think the transition from having a home to not having a home or parents would have been so easy. 

The money was even handier, because little did his parents know, he had already been accepted to the same Fine Arts school as Yixing on scholarship, so this check would take him much farther than his father expected. And taking away the stress of having to find a job that pays enough and also works around school helped as well; when they moved in to the house Luhan and Minseok found in January however, he grew attached to a little gaming shop a few blocks away and started picking up Saturday shifts for _fun_ which is something he never expected of himself, but he puts the money he earns towards groceries for the house and lives more comfortably than he ever expected to, even when he insists on paying Yixing’s share of the rent too, because he wants Yixing to be as comfortable as he is, because Yixing deserves it, and because after a week of _legitimately_ living together, they couldn’t stay out of each other’s beds, too used to sharing in Luhan’s house, too desperate for each other’s warmth.

It took no time at all for them to move Baekhyun’s things into Yixing’s, because it was bigger, leaving them a vacant room to rent out when they were all ready to accept someone else in.

All in all, Baekhyun is only human and goes through phases of sadness, of mild self-hatred because his parents don’t accept him, but in the end he knows that sometimes the family you choose is more important than blood, and his chosen family loves him for who he is, through thick and thin.

—————

“Auditions are next week, hyung,” Jaehyun whispers, as if it’s a secret that’s not posted in gigantic letters on the vocal class bulletin board with a sign-up sheet beneath it.

“Already?” Baekhyun sighs, patting Jaehyun’s head absentmindedly, even though he has to reach for the giant’s head. Jaehyun is a little genius who skipped two grades throughout school and who has attached himself to Baekhyun’s hip in vocal classes. Not that Baekhyun minds—Jaehyun is a sweetheart—it’s just that Jaehyun encourages this unnecessary competition happening in Level One vocal class that Baekhyun couldn’t have dreamt up in his worst nightmare had he tried.

He stares at the first and only name written on the audition sheet with reluctant disdain.

_Do Kyungsoo._

Awkward didn’t even cover their first day of Level One vocal class when Baekhyun and Kyungsoo ended up seated next to each other in their classroom. It was horrifying, maybe, unexpected, definitely. Baekhyun had spent years in choir with the guy but never expected them to end up in the same college program as well. He’d all but forgotten about Kyungsoo, or so he likes to pretend, as if he didn’t see Chanyeol going in and out of his house at least three times a week before Baekhyun moved. Chanyeol who is the sorest of sore subjects with practically everyone Baekhyun knows, himself included.

So vocal class is… tense on better days, _without_ the added drama of everyone turning things into a competition between them, because they’ve proven themselves to be the top vocalists of their year time and time again.

Baekhyun is competitive by nature—it’s the gamer in him—but this is one thing that he’s not seeking a competition in. He likes to think of Kyungsoo’s rich voice as a challenge, rather than something he needs to beat. He just wants to be better, always.

This end-of-year concert might have to change his perspective a bit, however, Baekhyun thinks, chewing on his lip and twirling the sign-up sheet pen between his fingers. The details they’ve been given of the Spring Concert are sparse, but they’re really pushing a _Freshman Spotlight_ bit, where one dancer, one singer, and one composer from the freshman class will get to work together on a number and perform it. He’s not particularly keen on the concept alone, not for his freshman year, _but_ the idea of getting to perform with Yixing, who has been working his _ass_ off for the solo dance slot is too appealing to pass up.

He signs his name under Kyungsoo’s.

There are a few childish _oooh_ s when he clips the pen back in place and he rolls his eyes, going to his cursed seat next to Kyungsoo.

“Hey, Soo!” He shines a grin at the boy. 

“Stop calling me that.”

Not even a glance up, the little— “Ah, sorry, are you talking to your textbook again? How many times do I have to tell you that it won’t answer back—“

“Can I help you?” Kyungsoo glares at him now, aware enough to know this will be over quicker if he pays attention to Baekhyun.

“Yes, actually. The Spring Concert. I really don’t care to compete with you, Soo. Your voice is amazing. But just this once, I—well you see, here’s the thing—“ Kyungsoo sighs, long-suffering. “It’d be really, really cool if I could perform this solo with my dancer b—“ Baekhyun clears his throat, lowers his voice. “He’s working so hard to win the dance section. I can’t imagine anything better than getting to sing for him like that so if we could just come to some kind of agreement—“

Baekhyun _sees_ the way Kyungsoo’s expression softens, though minuscule, but just as quickly as it happens, it reverses, and Kyungsoo looks as if he thinks Baekhyun is the scum of the earth. “No.”

“But Kyungsoo—“

“Perhaps you haven’t considered that I’d also like to perform with my composer boyfriend.”

“You—what.”

Kyungsoo cocks an eyebrow.

“Who’s your—oh. Oh my god.” Baekhyun mouth forms the perfect ‘o’. “You and Chanyeol?”

Huffing, Kyungsoo faces the front of the room. “None of your business. Fuck off.”

“Hey,” Baekhyun sincerely tries. “No, hey, I think it’s great—“

“I don’t care what you think,” Kyungsoo snaps. “You took advantage of him and I picked up the pieces. Now leave me alone.”

Baekhyun shrinks in his seat, heart sinking, and doesn’t speak for the rest of the class.

—————

Plopping down on the wood floor of one of the dance studios to the tune of girls giggling maliciously in the hallway, Baekhyun lets out a noisy sigh.

He hasn’t been able to shake Kyungsoo’s words since they were said, even if Kyungsoo did kind of seem like he regretted them afterward. It’s thrown Baekhyun off all day, made him feel gross. Yixing didn’t make him feel gross at the end of that mess last summer, but he’s starting to wonder if Yixing is biased. (He knows he is.)

The thump of footsteps approaches as he ponders just how terrible of a person he really is, and he hopes if it isn’t Yixing, it’s someone who will simply pass him by. But he’s never that lucky.

“Long day?” He hears Taemin’s smile before he peeks one eye open to see it and his bleach blond mop of perfect hair staring down at him.

He waves half-heartedly. “Hello, Taemin.”

“What’s wrong with Baekhyun?” A voice calls from several feet away, and then Baekhyun has Kim Jongin standing over him too. Another flawless specimen. 

“Nothing’s wrong with Baekhyun,” Baekhyun answers for himself.

Taemin and Jongin are best friends, and part of the group Yixing trains with now that the Spring Concert is approaching. Taemin actually leads it, a junior helping out, but the rest of them—Yixing, Jongin, Lisa, Seulgi, and Jungkook—are the last remaining choices for that solo dance spot in the Spring Concert, the best of the best. They meet three to four times a week, usually in the late afternoon depending on what everyone’s separate schedules look like. Baekhyun usually hangs out in their studio, half because he gets along better with the dancers than the singers, and half because Yixing likes to overwork himself, which makes Baekhyun nervous. (Just last week Taemin called him out of vocal practice because Yixing could barely walk he was so drained.)

“You’re all gloomy,” Jongin points out.

“Can’t a guy be gloomy once in a while?!”

“Gloomy doesn’t suit you, sorry.”

Baekhyun laughs at that. “So you make the rules, Kim Jongin?”

Jongin flashes a shy smile. “I might.”

“You’re here early.”

Baekhyun closes his mouth that had a comeback ready, and instead he turns his head to face the doorway, furrowing his brows at Yixing’s clipped tone and relatively stern expression. Baekhyun swallows, blinking a few times before slapping a grin on his face. “Just because I’m here before you doesn’t make me early, Zhang Yixing. It makes _you_ late.”

“We were trying to cheer him up,” Taemin offers easily, as if he’s defending Baekhyun. Baekhyun just isn’t sure why any of these tones are necessary. “Seems he had a bad day.”

Yixing’s expression softens then, just like that. “What happened?” he asks, finally walking in and setting his bag on the floor. He kneels down next to Baekhyun, frowning, and Taemin and Jongin leave them alone.

“Later,” Baekhyun mumbles, though he’s not really keen on discussing it with Yixing of all people. “Are _you_ okay?”

Yixing’s gaze darts around the room, and he must decide people are too close because he also murmurs, “Later.”

Baekhyun nods, fingers playing with Yixing’s sweatpants, mouth twisting thoughtfully.

He knows they won’t talk about either thing later.

After a while, Baekhyun rests on his stomach, pencil between his teeth and feet kicked up into the air. Almost lazily, his gaze rests on Yixing as he and his classmates practice a routine Taemin came up with. His sleeveless Norma Jean t-shirt doesn’t leave much to the imagination, with the underarms hanging so low they almost reach the waistband of his sweats. (Especially for someone like Baekhyun, who has been up close and personal with every inch of Yixing too many times to count.) Sweat drips down Yixing’s hairline, and makes his skin shine. His shirt twists up on a turn and Baekhyun gets a nice glimpse of nipple.

He wipes the drool from his chin and hurriedly turns back to his homework.

Their group is so good, Baekhyun thinks, hardworking, scarily in-sync, and attractive to boot. And he knows whoever gets the concert solo will get a lot of attention, just as the vocalist will—potentially from scouts of dance and even idol companies.

And he knows with all of his heart that Yixing will get that solo.

Yixing really has been working toward it all semester, building his stamina (Baekhyun happily gets to be a test of that), perfecting his technique, and dancing until he’s ready to pass out. He built up to that last part at least; Baekhyun has only had to fear for his boyfriend’s life _lately_ rather than all semester, _thank fuck._

“You guys could be on one of those fancy dance competition shows,” he comments later when the dancers are taking a five minute break. They’ve all dispersed, but Yixing sits close, next to Baekhyun but facing him, as he drinks deeply from his water bottle. He hums in acknowledgment and Baekhyun taps his thigh with his pencil. “You’d blow them away, ba—you know.”

Baekhyun clears his throat, shoving his pencil back in his mouth and staring down at his assignment without really seeing it. He hears Yixing sigh before he feels a hand pat his head, then glide down to cup his cheek. “No one’s in here, you know,” he murmurs. “We don’t have to hold back so much.”

Baekhyun’s eyes dart around the room, noting that it is, in fact, empty, but still he hears a _crack_ that means he’s biting down too hard on his pencil as his gaze falls back to his paper. He murmurs, “Too risky.”

They were both apprehensive about their classmates and new friends finding out they’re together, but Yixing moreso than Baekhyun. Once Baekhyun was out to his parents, he was less scared of people knowing about him, and with a boy like Yixing at his side, he kind of wanted _everyone_ to know they belonged to each other, but it was harder for Yixing, despite how open he had always been with Baekhyun and their friends and family before. School was a different ballpark altogether for Yixing. School equates where Yixing was always assaulted for being gay, why he had to run to his cousin’s house in the summers in the first place, so of course Baekhyun understands the apprehension. It makes him a little sad more than anything, that he can’t be open with affection in public, but then he just gets sadder when he remembers the things Yixing told him, about what kids did to him, and he just wants to wrap Yixing up in his arms until he’s warm and safe and knows he’s loved.

It’s a vicious cycle, really.

Sighing, Yixing gently pets Baekhyun’s hair until the doorknob of the entrance turns, indicating the dancers are coming back.

—————

They get home late that night, stopping for dinner at Yixing’s favorite little local barbeque restaurant, and they specifically _don’t_ talk about what was wrong with each of them earlier as they step into the shower together, and fall into bed together, as Baekhyun lets Yixing take, take, take, as if he has something to prove, as if he has to prove Baekhyun is his.

—————

“So like, call me crazy—“

“You’re crazy.”

Baekhyun leans to his side on the couch and kicks his feet out until they meet with Jongdae’s side. Jongdae shouts and Baekhyun grumbles as he settles his head on Sehun’s thigh, since he was almost there anyway once he tipped over. He half-heartedly charges his Call of Duty character forward; he can’t focus on their game right now. “Anyway,” he sighs. “I think Yixing might be getting jealous?”

“Of who?” Sehun asks, hand sinking into Baekhyun’s hair. Their third controller is broken, but Sehun doesn’t like this game much anyway. “Us?”

“No,” Baekhyun scoffs. “I don’t know, he’s just been acting… weird… when I’m at the dance studio. Like, if I talk to the other guys.”

“Oh. That’s not so crazy, I don’t think,” Jongdae says.

“No?”

“Uh-uh. He loves you.”

“Yeah but…” Baekhyun bites his lip. “He knows I love him too. But it’s like he gets… angry. Like he doesn’t trust me.”

No one responds right away, and Baekhyun sits up, alarmed, forgetting all about the game in front of them.

“Am I not trustworthy?” His friends seem to be avoiding his gaze, and he glances frantically between them. “Guys.”

“You’re trustworthy,” Sehun assures him, but the words are careful, bordering on uncertain.

Jongdae blows Baekhyun’s forgotten character up and cheers. “Yixing’s just sensitive, probably,” he offers when he’s done. “Don’t worry about it.”

Cursed words.

—————

A snicker sounds at the end of the empty hall. Baekhyun acknowledges it nervously but one cautious side-glance is enough to confirm it’s the same group of girls that always find him funny, hilarious even. God forbid they be giggling over his devilish good looks or something. Instead, they’ve taken up the hobby of picking fun at him, calling him Yixing’s _stalker,_ because he’s always at the dance studio to do his homework and keep an eye out, because he “follows Yixing around like a lost puppy.”

Baekhyun closes his eyes and breathes deep. If this is the price to pay for Yixing’s safety and comfort, then so be it. Fine. He can handle it. He just wishes these girls had something better to do than lust after Yixing and the other dancers, and that Yixing wasn’t late, which is why he’s in the hallway in the first place. 

Group practice was cancelled, but Yixing couldn’t bear the idea of missing out on precious training time, so he was getting a key from one of the administrators of the dance department, and Baekhyun was meeting him.

“Hey baby, you okay?” Yixing’s soft voice murmurs from next to him suddenly, but when he reaches out to touch Baekhyun’s face, Baekhyun stops him.

“Don’t. There’s a group of girls around the corner. To my left. Watching us.” _They’re always watching us._

The frown that was already on Yixing’s face deepens, and instead of glancing down the hall, he moves to the door and unlocks it, slipping inside silently. Baekhyun follows, and watches as Yixing locks the door behind them. “Yixing, what—“

But then Baekhyun’s bag is on the ground, and his back is against the door with Yixing’s mouth on his; he moans at the feeling of Yixing squeezing his hips too, slipping onto his back, under his shirt, roaming, claiming.

Baekhyun gasps for air. “What’s this for?”

“I missed you. I don’t know. I—I haven’t stopped thinking about you all day. I just want you under me. I want to feel you.”

“Whoa there, buddy.” Baekhyun laughs nervously, cheeks burning. “We’re still at school. We can’t—“

“I know. That was a promise for later.”

Before Baekhyun can respond, Yixing’s hungrily kissing him again, making it all too easy for Baekhyun to melt into him, to get lost for as long as Yixing wants to be lost. He doesn’t know what brought this on and he doesn’t care. What matters is that Yixing tastes like the strawberry drink he loves so much, and that he feels so warm pressed against Baekhyun this way, taking and taking but giving Baekhyun just as much. 

“My love, my love,” Yixing whispers into Baekhyun’s neck, hand tugging firmly at Baekhyun’s thigh until he follows through and hops up, wrapping his legs around Yixing’s waist and letting himself be pressed against the door harder. 

They’re practically the same size but Yixing always manages to make him feel so much smaller in the best way possible. 

“You spend so much time protecting me, don’t you?” Yixing murmurs before their lips are molded together again, desperation running deep as their crotches grind together. 

“You always—“ Baekhyun’s breath hitches. “You’ve always done the same for me. How could I not—not return the favor?”

Yixing answers him with a kiss, just on the safe side of too harsh but bruising nonetheless, something that makes Baekhyun’s lips part automatically, half in pain, half in submission as he softly moans. He _really_ doesn’t know what brought this on, and he doesn’t think they’ll be able to stop now that they’re both half-hard, so Baekhyun just grips Yixing’s hair tight, hangs on, and enjoys the ride, enjoys the fact he’s going to have aches tomorrow because of this, because Yixing couldn’t resist _him_ at _school._

Then, as suddenly as this started, Baekhyun falls, plummeting to the tile floor and bringing Yixing with him. 

Their heavy breaths and the overwhelming thudding of Baekhyun’s heart had been too loud, loud enough to mask the unlocking of the door behind them.

Yixing’s knees catch his fall, but there’s nothing to catch Baekhyun, no warning, no protection. His shoulders hit the ground first, and then his head smacks the tile so painfully it blacks out his vision momentarily, and pushes tears from his eyes.

A litany of curses surround him, and Yixing cries out his name, but everything is too fuzzy to address. He blinks and sees people standing above him, two of the girls that always taunt him, and Taemin. The girls’ hands are over their mouths and Taemin looks panicked, kneeling closer and saying things that Baekhyun can’t really hear. His focus adjusts when Yixing finally swims into view on his other side. He’s saying Baekhyun’s name, that much is clear, but Baekhyun cares more about the tears on Yixing’s cheeks, so he reaches up to wipe them away, and he blacks out.

—————

He wakes with a groan.

“Aaaand he’s back,” a low, flat voice mumbles.

“Where am I?” Baekhyun blinks, but the room sort of spins, so he just leaves them closed.

“The school’s infirmary,” Yixing’s gentle, _lovely_ voice answers him.

“Our school has an infirmary?”

A scoff. “Typical.” It’s that low voice again…

“Why am I having a nightmare about Kyungsoo?”

_”You’re_ having the nightmare?”

“Wait…” Yixing says. “Kyungsoo?”

Baekhyun sighs, squeezing his eyes together before trying to open them again. He focuses on a gray light fixture on the ceiling and breathes deeply, letting his eyes adjust. “The old neighbor slash classmate who hates me, in the flesh.”

_”Oh!”_ Yixing exclaims simultaneously to Kyungsoo’s grumble, “I never _hated_ y—“

“You’re a terrible liar, Do Kyungsoo. You’ve made it perfectly clear that I’m the scum of the Earth, so why are you here?”

Silence follows for a moment too long, and Baekhyun feels how flushed his cheeks are. He never lets himself sound so bitter toward or about Kyungsoo, but his head is pounding and he’s frustrated and just wants to go home.

Kyungsoo clears his throat. “I work here part-time. As an assistant. I was asked to look after you while the nurse on duty takes her lunch break. We didn’t think you would wake so soon.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Baekhyun mumbles.

Another stretch of silence greets the trio before Kyungsoo quietly says, “I’ll let the nurse know you’re awake.” Baekhyun hears him turn to Yixing. “Keep him awake. Now that he’s up, he has to stay up. The concussion is minor but she still wants him to take precautions.”

“Got it,” Yixing murmurs, and no one says anything else until Kyungsoo’s footsteps have faded into nothing, the door shut behind him. “Hey,” Yixing says. “How are you feeling, baby?”

“My head hurts.”

“I bet—“

“And my pride, I think.”

Yixing huffs, clearly amused, and uses a finger to force Baekhyun’s gaze from the ceiling. His vision only swims a little bit, and his heart swells at the sight of Yixing’s affectionate gaze. Yixing is always a good cure for agitation. They should patent that. “I think this is my fault,” Yixing whispers, scrunching up his nose so cutely Baekhyun nearly faints again. 

_”Yes_ it is!” Baekhyun cries, even though his hands are already grasping onto Yixing’s waist and sweatpants, just wanting to be closer. “I will never recover from this embarrassment! What if I have brain damage? What if I have memory loss?!”

His next question is forgotten when Yixing sweeps down to plant a kiss on his parted lips. 

“N-No, no, no!” Baekhyun screeches after too many moments, glaring at his own hand that had moved to Yixing’s neck without his consent. “This is how we ended up here, Zhang Yixing! First, a concussion! Next, a broken limb!”

“Good god,” Taemin’s voice suddenly rings out from behind Yixing. He walks around the bed, giggling. “Have you always been this dramatic?”

“Yes,” Baekhyun and Yixing both answer, and Yixing laughs. “At least since he became comfortable with himself,” he adds.

Baekhyun frowns. “Let’s not dive into my cliche backstory, please.” He faces Taemin, carefully removing his hands from Yixing. “Hey, you.”

The action doesn’t go unnoticed by Taemin, but Yixing just takes Baekhyun’s hand in his anyway, lacing their fingers. And, well, there can’t be much to hide from someone who opened the door on them making out, Baekhyun figures.

“Hey, yourself,” Taemin’s smile softens. “How’s our favorite vocalist?”

Baekhyun shrugs. “Hurting, but fine.”

“I’m really, really s—“

Baekhyun holds up his free hand. “I will only hear apologies from Zhang Yixing, since he is the one who got me into th—“

Yixing groans, but it melts into a laugh. “I’m going to get us some water. You’re insufferable.” He pats Baekhyun’s hand, squeezes it, and slips off the bed easily, hurrying to the other end of the room where Baekhyun can see cups and pitchers.

“I really am sorry,” Taemin says, pulling up a chair and sitting down.

“Don’t be, really. It’s fine. I’m more embarrassed than anything.”

“Well, you don’t have to be embarrassed around me, I hope you know that.” Baekhyun nods, though it doesn’t magically reinvent his pride. “And hey,” Taemin whispers. “Your secret is safe with me. You and Yixing.”

Baekhyun smiles softly. “You’ve always known though, right?”

Taemin glances down at his lap before nodding, laughing a little. “You guys are anything but subtle. The whole dance crew knows. Or suspects it, at least. It doesn’t matter to us, you know. You guys seem pretty perfect for each other.”

Baekhyun’s grin widens, but he covers his face with his hands, feeling himself blush. “He’s my other half.”

A hand sinks into his hair, spreading warmth down to his toes while Taemin laughs and calls him cute, and Baekhyun peeks through his fingers at Yixing’s warm smile, having not heard him come back over. “Ditto,” Yixing murmurs sweetly before leaning down and kissing his forehead. 

Scrunching up his nose, Baekhyun moves his hands so they’re only covering his cheeks and he turns back to Taemin. “Besides,” he sighs. “It probably won’t be much of a secret for long. Those girls… I’ve been the punchline of their jokes all semester for being Yixing’s _stalker,_ they probably won’t hesitate to spread our relationship around. Or twist it to make it seem like I manipulated him or something.” He sighs again and removes his hands from his face. “I’m sorry Yixing,” he weakly mutters. 

“Hey, this isn’t your fault, Baekhyunnie.” Yixing’s stern voice moves closer as he sits on the side of the bed. “I’m just upset you didn’t tell me they were treating you this way all along. My Baekhyunnie deserves better, you know?”

Baekhyun shifts his gaze from the ceiling to Yixing’s face, scrutinizing it for any hint of anger, but there is none. His eyes close when Yixing’s hand falls from his hair to his cheek. 

“I don’t think they’ll say anything, if that helps,” Taemin says, standing up from his chair. “Playing up that minor concussion for a little while might help though. I know they were freaking out that you would sue them.”

Baekhyun snorts. “Can I sue them for the sake of my pride?”

Smiling wide, Taemin pats Baekhyun’s arm. “Feel better, yeah? What would we do without our most important spectator?”

“Pfft, you can’t keep me away.”

“Good.”

After Taemin leaves, Baekhyun pulls on Yixing until he lays down with him. “What were they coming into the studio for anyway?” he asks, sniffling as he rests his face unreasonably close to Yixing’s, just as Baekhyun prefers.

“Taemin’s schedule cleared up, and he was going to come train with me. Those girls saw him and pretended they forgot something in the studio. I think they heard us, probably.” Yixing kisses his brow and settles back into place, noses grazing.

“How embarrassing,” Baekhyun grumbles.

Yixing shrugs. “I don’t care what they think. Not when they mess with my baby.”

“Yixing—“

“I’m serious,” Yixing sighs. “I felt like I was watching it happen in slow-motion and it—god, I _heard_ your head hit the ground more than I saw it. I was so fucking—scared. So no, I don’t care what they think. All I care about is making sure you’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” Baekhyun rushes to assure him, pressing the extra inch forward for a kiss. “I’m okay, really.”

“I love you, Baekhyunnie. Don’t scare me like that again, ever.”

Baekhyun closes the inch of space between their mouths, inhaling sharply when Yixing whimpers and presses closer, grasping onto Baekhyun’s shirt. It’s Baekhyun who stops it after a moment, pushing their foreheads together as he closes his eyes. “I love you, too, my Yixing.”

Someone clears their throat and Baekhyun startles before peeking over Yixing’s head to see Kyungsoo standing there, hovering awkwardly a few feet away.

“Oh.” Baekhyun sighs. 

“The nurse is on her way,” Kyungsoo mumbles, eyes looking at anything but the couple on the bed, even as Yixing climbs off of it, as if he walked in on them naked.

“Okay.”

Yixing walks around the bed and sits in the chair Taemin had occupied, and Kyungsoo clears his throat, staring down at the floor. “Those girls are bullies. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with them too.”

A scoff halts halfway up Baekhyun’s throat, and he tilts his head instead. “You too?”

“They don’t believe I’m dating Chanyeol. They think he’s just being nice to the weird choir boy.” 

“Oh. That’s—I’m sorry.” Baekhyun stares down at his hands. “I can’t decide if that’s worse than me being Yixing’s stalker or not.”

Kyungsoo grumbles, “Stalker is worse, I think.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Baekhyun answers dryly. Then he snorts. “This is the most civilized conversation we’ve ever had.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Whatever.”

“Is this a truce?” Yixing asks, too hopefully.

“No,” they answer together, but Baekhyun thinks it just might be.

—————

When Baekhyun makes it home, Luhan frets over him in a shockingly _motherly_ fashion—fetching ice and pain killers and water and ordering food—until he hears _how_ Baekhyun ended up with a mild concussion and then he nearly passes out from laughing too much. Minseok has to hit him to get him to stop, but it doesn’t help that Minseok is having trouble suppressing his laughter as well.

Baekhyun pouts until their food arrives, and then he takes his and Yixing’s portions and storms into their room, waiting until Yixing scurries inside, giggling, to lock the door behind them.

“I’m _sorry,”_ Luhan wheezes through the door. “It’s just that sometimes I can’t believe your lives are real—“

“Can it, Luhan,” Baekhyun shouts from the bed. Yixing pets his hair.

“It’s okay, baby.”

Baekhyun huffs, picking at the bandage wrapped around his head. “I like to make people laugh but not like this.”

Frowning, Yixing takes Baekhyun’s face in his hands and kisses his pout. “I’ll tell him to stop—“

“No,” Baekhyun sighs, falling forward until Yixing catches him. “I’ll just be more embarrassed.”

A skilled maneuver and a rush of air later puts Baekhyun suddenly on top of Yixing, his face and neck in Yixing’s hands.

“Ow,” Baekhyun murmurs, head pounding just a little, but he doesn’t stop Yixing from dragging him down into a deep kiss, doesn’t stop him from tracing his lip with his tongue, from stealing his breath away with every new angle. “You making good on your promise earlier, Zhang Yixing?” Baekhyun pants when Yixing finally relents.

“While you have a head injury? Absolutely not.”

“Yixiiing~” Baekhyun whines. “You can’t get me all worked up like this for nothing!”

“Who said it was for nothing?”

“But—“

“It distracted you from being embarrassed, didn’t it?”

Huffing, Baekhyun rolls off of him, or, tries to; Yixing catches him by the waist and eases him down. Stupid gentleman. “Fine,” he sighs. “Are your knees okay? I haven’t even asked.”

Yixing smiles his prettiest smile, his Baekhyun smile, which _forces_ Baekhyun to poke one of his dimples. “My knees are fine, Baekhyunnie. I iced them for a little while once you were settled into the infirmary. They’re a little bruised, but no real damage.”

“Good. Good.” Baekhyun let’s his fingers fan out along Yixing’s cheek and jaw, and closes his eyes when Yixing nuzzles closer, brushing noses. “That’s good. Because what would I do if you couldn’t dance for the concert? When I’m auditioning to sing just for you.”

He hears the tiny little gasp in Yixing’s throat and grins. Yixing pulls back some as he says, “You’re—?! You’re auditioning?”

“Mhmm.” Baekhyun peeks through one eye. “I don’t know that I’m ready to perform like that, but… when I saw the audition sign-up sheet, I just… couldn’t shake the idea that it would feel so _good_ to perform with you, you know? I’ve never had more fun in my life than I did when we would sing and dance together in the middle of the night at the park. I want to do that again. I want to perform with you.”

“Me too, baby,” Yixing murmurs, starting to pepper kisses on his cheeks, his nose, his forehead. “Me too. Aren’t auditions soon? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I only signed up a week ago,” Baekhyun nearly whispers, letting his eye close again so he can properly bask in the feeling of Yixing’s warm, full lips on his face. “I was worried I would back out, so I didn’t want to get your hopes up. Or mine. But I want to do this. For you. With you.”

Yixing is so… _happy,_ dropping kisses all over Baekhyun’s skin and murmuring _my Baekhyunnie_ amidst all of it, and Baekhyun thinks his entire body is swelling with affection. He loves his Yixing so much, forever and always.

—————

Even though vocal auditions happen so soon, the dancers still have two weeks to prepare, since the composers audition the week between the other two sections, and then the results for each section will be posted shortly thereafter.

The night before Baekhyun would have to audition, the night after he had to stay awake for too long because of his head injury, Yixing made good on his promise from before, getting Baekhyun under him and making love to him like never before, and the next morning, Baekhyun wakes up to breakfast and tea for his throat and gets to shower with Yixing before they leave for classes, and Yixing is there, in the front row of the auditorium while Baekhyun sings his heart out. Yixing gives him a standing ovation with the judges—some instructors from various vocal levels—and Yixing takes him out to dinner and kisses him all teary-eyed, saying Baekhyun sang so beautifully and had the part in the bag.

This affectionate little bubble is what Baekhyun lives for, being this way with Yixing, being this loved by Yixing, this in love with Yixing, so it’s a little startling, a little off-setting, when just the next day, Yixing retreats.

It’s not that he retreats from Baekhyun, necessarily, it’s that he retreats from _everything_ to focus on dance and the upcoming auditions. “I will get this part,” he mumbles into their pillows late one night, after Baekhyun had to help him out of his clothes and into bed. “We’ll perform together, Baekhyunnie.” 

It takes three days of studying for core subject exams in the library to get two calls from Taemin that Yixing needs a ride home because he’s too drained to get there himself, for Baekhyun to wonder if he should have kept his audition a secret.

He’s never _tried_ to be a distraction before, but he certainly tries now, tries anything to get Yixing to slow down, to eat more, to take more breaks. He even practices with him one day, when the group isn’t available, and when they take their first break, already sweaty and breathless, Baekhyun tries to use it to his advantage, chugging some water before hiking a leg over Yixing’s thighs, straddling him and pulling him into a deep kiss. It gets them both worked up pretty quickly, to Baekhyun’s honest surprise—he wasn’t sure he’d get much of a reaction from Yixing—and he moans when Yixing’s hands grip his ass tightly, pulling his hips closer, whispering Baekhyun’s name like a prayer.

“Let me…” Baekhyun murmurs. “Let me…” His hand trails down between them, twisting until he’s gently cupping Yixing’s crotch, listening to his boyfriend’s breath hitch before he tries to continue. “I wanna…”

“Say it,” Yixing insists, sounding desperate. “Don’t back down now.”

Swallowing and knocking their foreheads together, Baekhyun licks his lips, staring into Yixing’s eyes as best he can while his hand gently works between them. “I wanna fuck you, Xing,” he pants. “Let me. Let me fuck you. I need you—“

“Fuck. Fuck—“ Yixing surges forward to kiss him, and Baekhyun silently triumphs; he’s done it. He’s won Yixing over and Yixing can rest; they can leave practice and Baekhyun can do all of the physical work and Yixing can _rest._

And then Baekhyun is about to suggest going home, because after plenty of kissing and grinding into Baekhyun’s hand, Yixing is about as turned on as he can get, so it’s time to _go_ before Baekhyun tries to have him right here—only Yixing is shoving at Baekhyun’s hips suddenly, moving him until Baekhyun is falling onto his butt on the wood floor and Yixing is starting to stand up. Baekhyun grabs at his arm. “Yixing, what—“

“Break’s over!” Yixing laughs. “You’re perfect, Baekhyunnie, you know that? I’ve been thinking a lot lately how I should try to practice while I’m hard like this ‘cause it’s probably more difficult, so thank you.”

Baekhyun tries not to shrink in on himself, heart heavy and feeling suddenly very used. “That’s not what I was doing—Yixing, I want to go home, not be here—“

Yixing’s expression softens, but it’s wrong, this is all wrong. “It’s okay, baby. You must be tired. I’ll finish up here and meet you.”

“No, Yixing— _fuck_ that’s not what I meant! _We_ need to go home.”

Yixing frowns. “I have to finish practice for today.”

Baekhyun spends the rest of Yixing’s grueling practice sitting against the mirror wall, head resting on his knees and trying not to cry. Where is Yixing’s usual perceptiveness of Baekhyun’s mood, his thoughts? Why doesn’t he see what this is doing to them both? 

Yixing is killing himself for Baekhyun, and Baekhyun doesn’t know how to stop it.

—————

The composer auditions come and go; Baekhyun doesn’t attend, the memory of Kyungsoo mentioning Chanyeol’s participation still fresh in his mind, and Yixing spends the time practicing, because of course he does.

Baekhyun can’t sleep the night before dance auditions, he thinks because of anticipation, anticipation that this madness is finally fucking ending. It physically pains him to lay there and see the way Yixing has pushed himself in the way his face has thinned, in the dark circles beneath his eyes. Baekhyun rests a hand on Yixing’s cheek and spends more time than he can count slowly caressing it with his thumb, smoothing the skin under his eye as if that will help the darkness go away.

It doesn’t.

The day is long and Baekhyun accidentally falls asleep in two of his classes, but when it’s time for auditions, he’s in the front row, just as Yixing had been for him, and when Yixing _nails_ his routine, honestly, Baekhyun cries a little bit because he’s exhausted and Zombie Yixing is finally dead and Yixing looks so beautiful on stage. Baekhyun isn’t the only one who gives him a standing ovation. In fact, everyone does from the looks of it. The only other one to receive a similar reaction is Jongin, and those odds look good to Baekhyun. A 50/50 chance, and he _knows_ Yixing has this in the bag.

And when they get home, Baekhyun really learns what it’s like to be strong, turning down Yixing’s advances after a heavy makeout session in bed, to make him go to sleep. “We’re spending the entire weekend in bed, Zhang Yixing. Sleeping and eating and nothing else.”

“Nothing else?” Yixing’s finger trails down Baekhyun’s stomach, mischievous as ever.

Baekhyun feels his stomach tighten and his teeth clench. He grabs Yixing’s hand and laces their fingers together. “Nothing else. This is your official intervention slash recovery. You can fuck me on Monday.”

Humming, suddenly Yixing is using their entwined hands to halfway pin Baekhyun to the bed, rolling on top of him. “Bold words for my shy Baekhyunnie,” he murmurs, leaning down to kiss Baekhyun’s neck. Baekhyun forces himself not to moan, making the ugliest face, it feels like, and going back to expressionless as soon as Yixing picks his head up to say something else. “But I want _you_ to fuck me on Monday.” He grins. “I haven’t forgotten what you said.”

Baekhyun groans. “Fuck.” He shoves Yixing off of him and onto the bed, rolling on top of him before just plopping down, pinning Yixing with his entire body. “Bad boy,” Baekhyun half-heartedly teases. 

Yixing’s grunt is strained and Baekhyun grins triumphantly. “Fine, you win,” Yixing relents, freeing his arms and wrapping them around Baekhyun to roll them into their sides again, holding them in place like that, holding Baekhyun close. 

Baekhyun’s strength only lasts a day, however, when Yixing manages to convince him that sex is fine because they aren’t leaving bed.

So Baekhyun tops for the first time since they’ve been together.

(They’re so loud that Luhan pounds on their door, yelling at them to be quiet.)

(Luhan and Minseok’s bedroom is on the other side of the house.)

Baekhyun calls it a slip-up after that, despite the fact he wants to do it again and again and again. “One more day, Zhang Yixing! One more day of you not exerting any energy, okay?!”

The grin he’s met with is still too mischievous, but Yixing does listen in the end, and by Monday morning classes, Yixing really does look so much more like himself, and Baekhyun can breathe a little easier.

Yixing is back, really, giggly and happy with Baekhyun, not only at home but at school as well. It garners whispers, side-eye glances, but it’s like Yixing doesn’t even hear them, see them; he keeps on holding Baekhyun’s hand, he kisses his cheek outside of classes when they walk each other, and he drapes himself over Baekhyun’s back when they wait in line for food during lunch.

Baekhyun feels so full, of love, affection, and warmth, and the days fly by until suddenly it’s Reveal Day, the day they’ll find out which freshman from each section will be participating in the end of year concert.

They have plans, Baekhyun and Yixing, to meet at Yixing’s favorite little BBQ restaurant and celebrate, because it feels like they have this in the bag, but they have to see the results separately, as they’re posted in each section’s department rather than all together on one bulletin board. 

Seeing his own name listed as the winner of the vocal section is a little surreal, but Baekhyun feels an inexplicable joy as Jaehyun hugs him and congratulates him, as others pat him on the back with kind words.

All he sees of Kyungsoo, however, is his back as he leaves the room, making Baekhyun’s heart sit heavy in his chest, but he bites his lip and shakes his head and smiles at Jaehyun anyway. 

He’s going to get to perform with Yixing.

_“I’ll meet you at the restaurant,”_ Yixing had said that morning, the biggest grin on his face. _“I have a quick meeting with one of my teachers that I have to make first, and then I’ll come to you. I love you.”_

Except Yixing doesn’t come to him.

Baekhyun waits patiently at the restaurant, at their usual table, sipping on a drink and scrolling a gaming feed on his phone, until he realizes it’s 6:31 and Yixing was supposed to meet him half an hour ago.

Frowning, Baekhyun pulls up his messaging app, making sure his phone hadn’t glitched and withheld any notifications from him, but there’s nothing new from Yixing, not since his 10:00AM _i’m bored, baby :(_ which is something they both send quite often while in class.

The next half hour passes by agonizingly slowly, considering Baekhyun spends all of it anxiously tapping his foot and checking his phone every five seconds while he chews on his straw. He calls, he texts, he panics.

Yixing would never stand him up.

Something must be wrong.

Throwing a bill on the table to cover his drink, Baekhyun bolts from the restaurant, flagging down a cab as quickly as he can to go home, because Luhan is the only one he knows is available with a car.

“I think something is wrong,” Baekhyun blurts as soon as he barges into Luhan and Minseok’s bedroom, a risk in itself, but luckily they’re both just doing homework. “Yixing—I think he’s… he’s gone, or something.”

They both blink up at him in misplaced concern, misplaced because they’re looking at Baekhyun like they think he’s crazy. “What?” Luhan asks.

Baekhyun’s vision blurs with tears as he shakes his head. “He was supposed to meet me f-for dinner to celebrate concert announcements but it’s been over an hour and I haven’t—I haven’t heard from him—guys please.”

Minseok makes it to him just as his eyes close and his tears fall, arms wrapped around Baekhyun tight. “Hey, calm down, Hyunnie. I’m sure he just got held up at school or something.”

“Maybe his bus or cab is stuck in traffic,” Luhan weakly suggests. He doesn’t like seeing any of them cry.

“You don’t understand,” Baekhyun cries. “He should’ve gotten out of class _hours_ ago and he’s not—responding to my messages or calls. He _always_ responds—“

“Hey, hey.” Minseok pulls Baekhyun back from himself and takes his face in his hands, wiping at his tears. “You’re not thinking rationally, okay? It could be anything. His phone could’ve died. We’ll try calling for a little while and if we still can’t get a hold of him, we’ll go looking for him, alright?”

Baekhyun sniffles, trying to just breathe in, breathe out. “He wouldn’t back out of a date and not say anything, Minseok hyung.” His voice is a foreign whisper, but he’s not sure his voice really works anymore.

The way Minseok and Luhan exchange glances says they probably agree with him, and Luhan is already unlocking his phone and dialing Yixing’s number. Baekhyun and Minseok wait with bated breath in each other’s arms.

Yixing doesn’t answer.

“His phone’s not off,” Luhan mumbles, already trying again. “It’d go straight to voicemail if it was…”

They try a couple more times, from Minseok’s phone too, but none of them get a response, and Luhan hurries into the kitchen to grab his car keys.

Minseok settles into the backseat with Baekhyun, keeping an arm around him and holding his hand while Luhan mumbles about it looking like it’s about to rain as he puts the car in reverse.

Baekhyun blinks through his watery vision up at the sky outside, at the ominous dark grey clouds hanging above the town. He hadn’t even noticed on his way here. He hopes it’s not an omen.

“Maybe he’s celebrating with his school friends?” Luhan tries again, glancing at them in the rearview mirror.

“He was supposed to celebrate with me,” Baekhyun mumbles. He wouldn’t have ditched Baekhyun without saying something, he _wouldn’t._

“Maybe he…” Luhan hums.

“Maybe he what?” Baekhyun snaps. Minseok rubs his fingers soothingly.

“Maybe he didn’t get the part,” Luhan almost whispers. They all know how hard Yixing worked for it, for him to not get it would be…

“Impossible.”

Minseok and Luhan both sigh.

They check the school first and run into Taemin, who says he hasn’t seen Yixing in a while, and he and Jongin were going out to celebrate but he didn’t think many others were, because they all had homework to tend to. “Maybe Yixing’s at the library,” he said, so Baekhyun, Minseok, and Luhan ran there, with still, no luck.

Back in the car, Luhan says he maybe knows where to go and just starts driving, and Minseok turns to Baekhyun, taking both of his hands in his. “Baekhyunnie, you know Yixing isn’t leaving again, right?”

“Wh-What?”

“You just… how harshly you’ve reacted to this… It’s understandable if you feel like he’s going to leave again, but he isn’t. He’ll be here for at least three more years and—“

“Why are you psycho-analyzing me, hyung?” Baekhyun swallows and glances away. “You know now that I’m not crazy. Something is wrong—“

“I know, but I’m just saying maybe you two need to talk. I think there are things you guys just wrote off when he came back so that you could be together, but it’s going to cause problems later on if you don’t talk about it soon—“

“Minseok,” Luhan gently warns.

“I just think they’re not talking like they need to, is all.”

“We talk. All the time,” Baekhyun whispers.

“I know,” Minseok says, much gentler this time. “But remember the end of last summer? The state your body ended up in for no reason?”

Baekhyun flinches. It was the end of Yixing’s first real summer with them, the first time he wouldn’t be leaving at the end of it, but when they reached the end of July, Baekhyun inexplicably fell into a depressive state, talking less, smiling less, holing himself up with Yixing so he could cling and cling, warding off his friends to do so too. Yixing had concernedly called him a puppy and always held him no matter what, but when it went on for a week, he consulted Minseok, who pinpointed the whole “it’s the end of summer, he probably thinks you’re leaving” thing and then Yixing only held him tighter, whispered reassurances in his ear, and they did talk back then, because Baekhyun explained maybe that was why he was acting that way, but it wasn’t Yixing’s fault. It was just a feeling Baekhyun couldn’t shake. And they had worked through it. “That doesn’t mean—“ The car pulls to a stop. They’re at the little locally-owned barbecue restaurant Baekhyun and Yixing were supposed to meet at. It’s Yixing’s favorite restaurant. “This is where we were supposed to meet,” Baekhyun murmurs. “He’s not here.”

Luhan deflates, but unlocks the car anyway. “I’ll run inside and double-check.”

Heavy water droplets slowly hit the car around them, and Baekhyun frowns up at the sky through the window. “So you think we need to talk?” he murmurs, nearly unintelligible. 

Minseok hums. “It’s not just the way you react to him being gone, it’s the way he reacts when you talk about the guys he dances with, or the guys you sing with.”

Baekhyun has noticed it too, of course he’s noticed it, but he always assumed it was a little jealousy and was even a little _flattered,_ only because it still amazes him sometimes that Yixing loves _him_ and not one of these beautiful art students they’ve befriended. “He just gets a little jealous…”

“Just talk to him. Resolve the whole Chanyeol thing, okay?”

Baekhyun blanches at that. The Chanyeol thing. They haven’t talked about that since it ended. Do they need to…?

Luhan gets back in the car, shirt spotted with raindrops. “Any other suggestions?”

They try a couple of more places, resolve dwindling and Baekhyun’s frustration growing, until, in a random section of town, he sees a sign for a lookout point. 

It’s not _their_ lookout point but it’s enough of a sign for him to say, “Our old neighborhood. Go.”

Tapping his feet against the floorboards, Baekhyun cranes his neck as they pull onto the narrow path that leads to the cliff, as if it’ll actually help him see more quickly. It’s pouring raining now and his hands are shaking; but when he sees a familiar figure slumped in their usual spot, he’s yanking the car door open and bolting across the gravel.

Everything is cast in a shade of green, and rain soaks Yixing to the bone where he sits in their usual spot, a random patch of grass a few feet from the cliff. Baekhyun slips while he runs, but the moment he makes it to Yixing, he tugs on one of his arms to get him up and out of the rain. “Come on, Xing, you’re gonna get sick!”

But Yixing doesn’t budge. He lets Baekhyun pull and tug at him, but he doesn’t get up, and he doesn’t respond. Not until Baekhyun worriedly sits next to him, licking away water droplets that drip from his nose before he asks, “What’s wrong, Xing? Talk to me.”

Yixing turns his head enough for Baekhyun to see his eyes are red, a little puffy, and Baekhyun immediately takes his face in his hands, thumbs swiping at Yixing’s cheeks as if the rainwater isn’t making it completely redundant. Yixing’s breath shudders from his lips and he whispers, “They—um. They gave the solo to Jongin.”

Eyes falling closed, Baekhyun knocks his forehead against Yixing’s. Shit. There’s no—There’s no way this is happening. “No, no, no… Yixing, I’m so sorry. Baby, I’m so sorry.” Yixing nods against him before burying his face in Baekhyun’s neck and clutching him like a lifeline. “This isn’t fair,” Baekhyun whispers. Because it isn’t. It’s not fair that Yixing worked himself until he couldn’t anymore and still didn’t get it, and Baekhyun didn’t even put in half as much work and somehow landed the vocal solo. 

He’d only auditioned so he could lead with Yixing.

“I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up,” Yixing murmurs. “But when you said you were auditioning too, I just—I wanted to dance for you for real, Baekhyunnie. Not just at 3am in the middle of the woods—but I-I don’t think I’m good enough—”

_”Hey,”_ Baekhyun frowns, pulling Yixing back to hold his face again. “What the hell, Yixing, of course you’re good enough. You’re great— _better_ than the others, even. You’re so amazing, like, I kind of want to cry every time I watch you dance. You’re so beautiful and talented and—“

“You’re biased,” Yixing murmurs, but his lips quirk a little and his cheeks are warm beneath Baekhyun’s palms, so that’s something.

Baekhyun giggles. “Of course I’m biased. Doesn’t mean I’m wrong though.” He leans in and gently kisses Yixing’s lips. “You deserve the world, Zhang Yixing. I want to give you the world, because that’s what you’ve done for me.”

By the last word, Yixing is surging forward to capture him in a ground-shifting kiss; a breath-stealing, head-spinning, passionate exchange that leaves Baekhyun gasping as Yixing rests their foreheads together. “You idiot,” he whispers. “You think you aren’t my world?”

Baekhyun’s answering laugh is watery at best. He shakes his head and pulls Yixing into a tight hug, both burying their faces in each other’s necks, a short reprieve from the rain. “There are so many more concerts to come, my Yixing, but regardless of the outcome now or in the future, you’ll always be a winner to me. You’re so much more amazing than you think. And honestly?” Baekhyun pulls back yet again. “Fuck them! We’ll put on our own concert! Just me and you. What do you say?”

Yixing laughs, high pitched and pleasant, eyes turning into cute crescents as his hands cup Baekhyun’s face. “My Baekhyunnie,” he giggles. “Thank you for making me smile. Always.”

Baekhyun grins into their next kiss, content to taste Yixing and rain, to keep offering Yixing his strength, to let love bloom under every inch of his skin. 

They kiss until the car behind them honks, and Baekhyun squints through the rain to offer Luhan and Minseok a thumbs up, then looks back at Yixing and tilts his head. “Come on, Xing. Let’s go home.”

Yixing nods but steals one more quick kiss before they help each other up and rush, arms around each other, back to Luhan’s car.

“You’re both gonna be sick,” Minseok grumbles once they dive in, tossing his and Luhan’s jackets back at them from where he now sits in the passenger seat. He turns the dial on the heater up too.

“Hyung,” Baekhyun whines as he wraps the warmer jacket of the two around Yixing’s shoulders. “You’re gonna suffocate us.” He quickly slips into Minseok’s jacket and pulls Yixing into his arms, against his chest.

“At least you won’t get pneumonia,” Minseok shrugs, and Baekhyun sighs.

“...You okay, Xing?” Luhan gently asks.

“Fine,” Yixing sighs. “Now, at least.”

It’s not until they’ve showered and bundled up in bed with hot chocolate Minseok made for them that Yixing’s small voice says, “You won, right?”

Baekhyun closes his eyes, head falling to Yixing’s shoulder. It doesn’t feel like he’s won, not anymore. “Yeah, I guess.”

Yixing’s lips press against the top of Baekhyun’s head, and he feels them curl into a smile. “I’m going to be in the front row, cheering my ass off for you. I’ll make a sign, one that lights up like people do for idols—I bet Luhan ge will help me. Everyone around will know how much I love my boyfriend, and that I’m his number one fan.”

Wrapping his arms around Yixing’s torso, still balancing a coffee mug, Baekhyun feels his eyes water and his nose burn and he shakes his head against Yixing’s neck. “I don’t want to do it without you,” he whispers. 

Yixing leans over and sets his mug down, then takes Baekhyun’s and does the same. “This is a good opportunity for you, Baekhyunnie. You’re so talented. You don’t need me to showcase that.”

“It’s just not fair.” Baekhyun sniffles. 

“You know,” Yixing says, carding his fingers through Baekhyun’s hair. “Someone once said, _there are so many more concerts to come, my Yixing,_ and I think that was pretty wise.”

Baekhyun shoves at Yixing’s chest playfully, whining a little. “Yixing.” He pouts against Yixing’s neck, who laughs.

“You were right though. We have so many more opportunities to perform together. Of course I’m sad that the opportunity isn’t now, but it doesn’t mean I can’t be here to support you every step of the way.”

Baekhyun kisses him until they both go dizzy.

—————

The day of the first concert practice for the three freshman comes sooner than Baekhyun needs it to. They’re meeting in one of the small practice auditoriums on campus, where they’ll be meeting for the next month, the last month of the semester, to compile their own performance piece that works for all three of them.

Baekhyun has been hiding at the end of the hall for ten minutes, too nervous to go in and waiting for the other two to arrive first. He has to know for sure the composer is Chanyeol, to prepare himself; all Jaehyun could tell him was “umm… Park?” when Baekhyun had asked, and his heart had sunk in his chest.

He sees Jongin and Taemin arrive first, which is relieving, knowing that Baekhyun has one more friend that’ll be there with him, at least.

And five minutes later, Park Chanyeol arrives, tall and handsome as ever.

Baekhyun sinks against the wall until his butt is on the floor and his knees are pressed against his chest. He doesn’t think he can do this, not without Yixing and maybe not at all. He should have taken his name off the audition list as soon as Kyungsoo mentioned that Chanyeol was auditioning too, but all that had been on his mind was _Yixing, Yixing, Yixing._

“Baekhyun?” he hears a familiar voice call, but he doesn’t acknowledge it, even when he walks over and squats down next to him. “Baekhyun, what’s wrong?” Taemin gently asks.

Baekhyun shakes his head, not even surprised to hear how watery his own voice sounds. His nose burns. “I don’t think I can do this, hyung.”

“What? Of course you can, Baekhyunnie.” Taemin sits down, facing him. “You shouldn’t be nervous. It’s just Jongin, and the other kid seems sweet too. I heard he’s really talented.”

Baekhyun’s head falls, and he sinks his fingers into his hair, tugging on it. “Yeah. That kid is the problem.”

“What? You know him?”

“Intimately.”

“Oh.” Taemin pauses. _”Oh.”_

“I hurt him,” Baekhyun whispers, eyes rapidly filling with tears. “I hurt Yixing. I hurt myself. It was such a mess.”

Taemin rests a hand on his knee and squeezes it. “Hey—“

But Baekhyun shakes his head, lifting it and rubbing his eyes, trying to force the tears to stop. He thought this was settled, he thought he was past this, but Minseok was right. Nothing was ever really resolved. “It’s a long, complicated story, but no matter how you look at it, despite Chanyeol not paying attention to how little I wanted to kiss him, despite Yixing constantly encouraging me to keep kissing him, I’m a shitty person, and they both deserve so much better.”

Baekhyun doesn’t hear footsteps approaching until they stop right in front of him, and then Chanyeol himself is sitting in front of Baekhyun, assessing Baekhyun’s face with the purest concern, like he cares that Baekhyun is a crying mess right now, like he didn’t just startle Baekhyun so badly his heart stopped.

Chanyeol looks at Taemin. “Can you give us a second, please?”

Taemin’s wide eyes turn to Baekhyun, but Baekhyun can do nothing but nod his head. Could he really force Taemin to sit and endure whatever is about to happen?

When the door clicks shut at the other end of the hall, Baekhyun holds his breath, but Chanyeol gently smiles. “Hi.”

Slowly, Baekhyun clears his throat. “Hi.”

A moment passes of nothing but silence and Chanyeol playing with Baekhyun’s shoelaces, then he asks, “Why are you crying for me, Baekhyunnie? It’s been a while.”

His words seem to break a dam inside Baekhyun, unleashing a river that drowns him, crumpling him in a heap before Chanyeol, face in his hands as he cries. “S-Seeing you again just—brought everything back—“ Baekhyun can’t stop the waves of emotions. “I can’t believe I did that to you and Yixing, I just—I thought I had moved on, because b-both of you seemed to, but—but—“

It’s a long moment before Chanyeol is suddenly next to him, pulling Baekhyun against his chest and holding him so tight it almost hurts. “I know,” Chanyeol murmurs, voice just on the side of too rough. “It’s okay—“

“—I’m sorry—“

“—It’s okay, I forgive you, Baek—“

“—I’m so sorry—“

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol cries, getting a grip on Baekhyun’s shoulder and head, pushing him back until they can see each other. Chanyeol’s cheeks are blotchy and his eyes are filled with tears, and it all just becomes blurrier the more Baekhyun’s fill with them too. Chanyeol angles his neck so their faces are level. “Baekhyun, listen to me. I forgive you.” Baekhyun can’t stop crying. “I forgive you. Y-You have to forgive yourself—“

Chanyeol pulls Baekhyun back against him, holding him close and letting him cry. Baekhyun doesn’t know where all of this came from, he didn’t know he was holding all of this inside him for so long, but Minseok’s words ring so fucking clear in his head now. _I think there are things you two just wrote off when he came back so you could be together._ Baekhyun never dealt with this. He hurt a whole human being for his own happiness and fulfillment and whatever else and then just leapt into Yixing’s arms like it never happened. He didn’t consider what it really did to Chanyeol and Yixing, and himself.

It takes him too long to stop crying, but Chanyeol holds him through all of it, rubbing his arm, squeezing it, whispering things Baekhyun can’t hear. Baekhyun hates himself a little bit. He’s not the victim here, yet Chanyeol is taking care of him anyway. He should’ve left Baekhyun here to rot.

“I was sad for a while,” Chanyeol murmurs when their grip on each other has loosened, and the silence has stretched on. “But I found my person, just like you. Maybe it’s not some whirlwind fairy tale romance like yours seems to be, but Kyungsoo makes me so happy, Baekhyun. I’m happy. You don’t have to be sad for me.”

“I just…” Baekhyun whispers. “...didn’t deal with anything the right way.”

Chanyeol shrugs against him. “We’re still teenagers, Baek. And I think everything happens for a reason, and in a lot of ways, what happened between us led me to Kyungsoo, so I’m thankful we went through that. Kyungsoo is my other half.”

Baekhyun’s heart grows warm for Chanyeol, for the fact that Chanyeol _has_ found his own Yixing, his own person, because there’s no better feeling in the world, he thinks. Baekhyun’s smile is small against Chanyeol’s shoulder. “When did you get so wise, Chanyeollie?”

Chanyeol snorts, shaking his head. “Shut up.”

“But really.” Baekhyun sighs. “I’m really happy for you.”

“Thank you, Baekhyunnie.”

—————

“Hey baby,” Yixing murmurs when Baekhyun wastes no time climbing onto his lap once he’s home, kissing his lips and sliding his arms around his neck. “How was practice?”

“Mm… It was fine.” Baekhyun presses into Yixing’s touch, smiles against Yixing’s mouth. Maybe this will soften him up, Baekhyun thinks, maybe this will ease the tension of the talk they need to have. 

Yixing eats it up, hands sliding up Baekhyun’s shirt to pull him closer, nipping playfully at his lips. “Tell me about it.”

“Later,” Baekhyun whispers before pulling his shirt over his head.

Later turns into much later when showering together turns into a second round because Yixing’s hands roam a little too freely, and instead of falling into bed where he knows they’d just fool around some more, Baekhyun steers Yixing to the kitchen, opting for a late dinner instead.

Once they’ve popped some fries in the oven—the only cookable thing in the freezer—Baekhyun seats himself on the counter and pulls Yixing between his legs, combing his fingers through his hair as he bites his lip. “We should talk about this concert situation.”

Yixing hums, a small, understanding smile on his face. “I guess Chanyeol won the composer position.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun whispers. “Yeah, he did.”

“Are you okay? I mean—“ Yixing hesitates. “Was it hard for you?”

“It was—that’s kind of what I wanted to talk about. Because like, I didn’t expect to feel so b—“

A familiar ringtone sounds from their bedroom, Yixing’s phone, and they both glance in that direction. “I can ignore it,” Yixing mutters.

“No. No, you should answer it. It could be important.”

Without looking at Baekhyun, Yixing nods and slips away, into the bedroom. Baekhyun’s stomach turns. This doesn’t feel right. Yixing doesn’t feel right. The way he stiffened in Baekhyun’s grip, the way his gaze unfocused.

He’s trying to come up with words, any positive words he can think of, something to rectify this situation before it gets bad, when Yixing returns to the kitchen with his phone in his hand and a stunned look on his face.

Baekhyun’s brows raise. “What happened?” 

“It was Jongin,” Yixing starts, slow, careful, uncertain. “He and Taemin just left the emergency room. Apparently they were walking home and Jongin twisted his ankle pretty bad. It’s not serious but he’s had some trouble with that ankle before so he wants to play it safe…”

“Okay…”

Yixing’s eyes widen as he looks at Baekhyun. “He’s backing out of the concert. Which means I get the part.”

And even as Baekhyun cheers and jumps into Yixing’s arms with all the excitement he can muster, anxiety sits heavy in his gut, because despite the happiness this entails, it means practices are going to consist of himself, Yixing, and Chanyeol for the next several weeks.

He can’t imagine this going well in any scenario.

—————

“Hey guys,” Chanyeol says using his brave voice and face, waving as Baekhyun and Yixing walk into concert practice together.

Baekhyun matches his smile, happily waving back and ignoring the quiet sigh that escapes Yixing, although he at least does wave as well.

Chewing on his lip, Baekhyun tosses his bag aside and awkwardly makes his way over to Chanyeol and his keyboard. Taemin isn’t here yet to help Yixing but Baekhyun doesn’t want to just awkwardly stand in the middle of the room until he arrives. 

He sits with Chanyeol and his shoulders tense when he feels Yixing walk up behind him and rest his hands on them. “So,” Yixing says. “What kind of song do you two plan to do?”

“Oh!” Chanyeol smiles, genuine as ever. “That’s actually partially up to you! Jongin wanted us to do a ballad of sorts, since ballet is his strong suit, so yesterday I played some samples for him and Baekhyun and got a feel for their voice and dance, so I’d like to do the same today, if that’s alright.”

“Sure. I’m not a ballet guy though, so that’s out.”

Baekhyun purses his lips at Yixing’s somewhat clipped tone, but Chanyeol takes it all in stride. “No problem dude! Ballads aren’t _my_ strong suit anyway. Do you have a genre you prefer?”

“Hip hop, maybe. I’m not really sure.”

Taemin walks in then, saving the day as far as Baekhyun’s concerned, and Chanyeol waves a hand. “No worries. I’ll gather up some clips and play them for you after you warm up.”

“Okay.”

A breath of relief escapes Baekhyun when Yixing finally backs away and Chanyeol offers him a half smile when he hears it. “Don’t worry, Baekhyun.”

But Baekhyun _is_ worried, which is the problem. With Jongin’s call interrupting, Baekhyun and Yixing never finished their talk, so now Yixing is stewing in whatever he _thinks_ Baekhyun was going to say and it’s clearly not good when he’s being a bit rude to Chanyeol in the flesh.

“So, I’ll pull some hip hop demos that I have…” Chanyeol mumbles, already clicking around on his laptop.

“Uh, here’s the thing…” Baekhyun smiles nervously. “Hip hop is potentially my least confident genre, vocally.”

“Ah.” Chanyeol pauses, looking at him again. “You were confident with ballads, but if that’s out, we need to find another way to showcase your voice. We could always just slow it down; hip hop doesn’t have to mean super fast beats and nonstop rapping or anything. Or we could always just convert to R&B? Or both? I bet you’d sound really nice doing R&B—“

A crash sounds behind them and they both turn to see Yixing picking up the chair he had apparently been using to stretch. “Sorry. Tipped it and it slipped,” he mutters.

Baekhyun pinches the bridge of his nose when he turns back around. “R&B has always been Kyungsoo’s strength.”

“Sure,” Chanyeol agrees. “But that doesn’t mean your voice can’t also suit it. We’ll figure this out, Baekhyun. It’ll be fine.”

The angry mutters under Yixing’s breath behind them tell him otherwise.

—————

Baekhyun falls across Jongdae’s and Sehun’s laps, groaning.

“How come our annual video game sessions have turned into Baekhyun’s therapy sessions?” Jongdae sighs, tossing his controller aside.

Sehun shoves at his head before sinking his fingers into Baekhyun’s hair. “Don’t be insensitive.”

_”Don’t be insensitive,”_ Jongdae mocks, earning himself another shove, but Baekhyun groans again.

“Enough,” he wails. “You know the Spring Concert?”

“Yes…” both of his friends say.

“The freshmen performing for the spotlight bit are me, Chanyeol, and Yixing.”

“Holy _shit!”_ Jongdae exclaims, while Sehun’s fingers work harder to be more soothing. “Okay, okay, I’m interested now. Spill. Why happened to the other guy?!”

“Gee, thanks,” Baekhyun drawls. “Whatever. Jongin hurt his ankle and backed down, which forfeited the spot to Yixing.”

Jongdae downright cackles. “This is karma.”

“Shut the hell up,” Baekhyun whines. “Why do I bother…”

“No, no hear me out.” Jongdae shakes his head, forcing his laughter down. “This is the universe literally forcing you to confront the lowkey issues you’ve been having with Yixing, isn’t it?”

Poking out his bottom lip, Baekhyun grabs Sehun’s hand and makes it rest against his cheek instead of in his hair, holding it in place.

“It’s going to force a reaction out of someone. You or him, since you said you and Chanyeol have already talked things out.”

“He wasn’t very nice tonight.”

“Who?” Sehun asks.

“Yixing. He wasn’t downright rude to Chanyeol or anything, but he was visibly awkward and frustrated.”

“Alright.” Jongdae claps his hands. “So it’ll be Yixing to blow first.”

With a low sigh, Baekhyun’s eyes close. He doesn’t want anyone to blow first. He wants this to be over before it’s begun.

“It’ll be okay,” Sehun murmurs, caressing Baekhyun’s cheek. “You and Yixing are like the ultimate goals for couples. You guys will get through this.”

“Yeah epic love and all that,” Jongdae waves his hand. “It’d almost be better I bet if it was just Yixing and Chanyeol being forced to work together. That way Yixing isn’t so blinded by your presence or whatever, but speaking of epic love, can we talk about my thing now?”

“Your thing?” Baekhyun questions after a moment, trying to process Jongdae’s words and whether they make sense or not. He peeks one eye open.

Jongdae nods. “Junmyeon. He’s been back for like four months now, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Baekhyun frowns. “And I’ve only seen him like twice. He doesn’t like us, does he?”

“No, no, of course he does. He’s just super busy with uni and work, I swear. No one’s schedules ever match up.” Now Jongdae frowns, but he shrugs it off quickly, clearly excited about whatever it is he has to say.

Junmyeon is a year ahead of them in school, and did three semesters online while he worked to save up and move back home after his parents forced him away so many years ago, and Baekhyun thinks that secretly means move back to Jongdae.

He was there when Junmyeon surprised Jongdae, when he knocked on the door and stood there with a charming smile until Jongdae froze up in shock as he realized who was standing before him. They’d hugged for so long Baekhyun had to look away, feeling like he was intruding on something private.

Now, Baekhyun doesn’t see the lustrous Junmyeon much, sure, but he knows that he is handsome, and he knows that he looks at Jongdae the same way Yixing looks at Baekhyun, which is enough for him, as Jongdae’s best friend, to know that Jongdae is in good hands no matter what.

“We kissed!” Jongdae blurts. “And fucked!”

Baekhyun’s quick grin morphs into a delighted laugh as he shoves Jongdae’s shoulder and Sehun says _congratulations._ “Finally!” Baekhyun cries. “Please tell me you’re together officially now and also when’s the wedding?”

“Shut up!” Jongdae screeches, but he can’t keep the smile from his face. “But… yeah. The asking me out part came between the kissing and the fucking.”

“How romantic,” Baekhyun and Sehun answer simultaneously, before bursting out laughing. “But no, no,” Baekhyun shakes his head. “I’m so happy for you, Dae. That is an epic love story, isn’t it?”

“Our lives are fairy tales,” Jongdae agrees.

Sehun pouts. “Then where’s my princess? Or prince. You know, I’m not picky.”

Baekhyun and Jongdae exchange wide-eyed glances. _”Dude_ did you just—“ Jongdae starts.

“Why haven’t you ever said anything?!” Baekhyun demands.

Shrugging, Sehun starts caressing Baekhyun’s face again. “Look, I’ve been with a couple of girls before and I enjoyed it, so I thought, okay, straight. But ever since you both came out, it was like something… resonated with me. So I started paying more attention.”

“To guys.”

“To everyone. And I’m definitely attracted to more than just girls. I even realized I used to have a crush on you, Baekhyunnie.”

Heat rushes to Baekhyun’s face and he quickly covers it with his hands, even though Sehun can no doubt feel it. “I had a giant crush on you, Sehunnie.”

Sehun giggles but Jongdae cuts in. “Damn, what am I? A trashcan?”

Laughing, Baekhyun sits up and throws his arms around Jongdae. “Aww, Jongdae is jealous.”

“Am not! You two losers can have each other! I’ve got a man!”

“So do I!”

“You’re both children,” Sehun sighs.

Baekhyun spends the rest of the night play-fighting and cuddling with his best friends, and he feels a hundred times better at the end of it.

—————

Only, the third practice session turns into a disaster.

Yixing’s last class of the day was cancelled, and he wanted to grab coffee or something with Baekhyun before practice, which was fine, it was great even; with everything going on they haven’t done much but have sex and sleep in a while, so Baekhyun was happy.

Only then, Yixing showed up to the campus coffee shop grumpy, which… was less than desirable, but Baekhyun could still work with that. He knows best how to cheer Yixing up, Yixing has said it himself. And by the end of the date they were giggling and rubbing feet under the table, so all was well.

Until Baekhyun opened his big, fat mouth.

They were almost to the practice hall to meet Chanyeol and Taemin, when Baekhyun wrapped his arm around Yixing’s, rested his head on his shoulder, and murmured, “Please try to be nicer to Chanyeol today. I’m the bad guy here, not him.”

Yixing had stiffened against him, had taken a deep breath, and only responded with, “Okay,” before remaining silent for the rest of the walk.

They still haven’t talked like Baekhyun knows they need to, like he’s been trying to, but something always comes up, or Yixing brushes him off, making panic settle deeper into Baekhyun’s bones the longer this tension lasts between them.

_Why can’t you read my mind?_ Baekhyun silently pleads during their walk.

_Why do you think I would ever choose someone else over you?_ he silently cries later as Yixing rudely disagrees with the millionth suggestion Chanyeol has given him for song possibilities.

Baekhyun can see it in Yixing’s face, the way he wants to start up a fight, the way he’s _looking_ for one, like he wants Chanyeol to fight back so Yixing has an excuse to punch him, while Baekhyun and Taemin hopelessly watch until tears are filling Baekhyun’s eyes and he’s shouting, _”Yixing!”_

The room falls silent.

Baekhyun turns back around on the bench he’s sharing with Chanyeol, putting his back to the room and everyone else. “You trust me, right?” he whispers, before more firmly adding, “I’ll choose a sound that works for both of us. Just go warm up with Taemin.”

“Baekhyun--”

“Go.”

“Hey, are you--” Chanyeol tries, but Baekhyun holds up a trembling hand.

“Just play something until I stop fucking crying.”

He sees Chanyeol nod in his peripheral, a frown heavy on his face, but Baekhyun just closes his eyes and takes deep breath after deep breath, trying his hardest to calm down, to focus on the task at hand. They’re already behind, and if Baekhyun makes the move he thinks he needs to, they’ll be even more behind.

“Pull up your R&B samples,” he mutters. “You can rap, right?”

“But—But you said you didn’t want—“

“It doesn’t matter what I want.”

Chanyeol stares at him. “You have to sing the song. He can meet you in the middle.”

“I know what I’m doing.” Baekhyun meets his gaze, struggling to see through blurry eyes. “Just do it. Please.”

Sighing, Chanyeol nods. “I had some ideas. A way to sort of merge genres to suit you both. I’ll play a couple of tracks while I layer some files I have and show you what I’m thinking.” Pulling out his phone, Chanyeol rummages through it until he finds what he’s looking for, then hits play. “Just give me like five minutes.” And with that, he’s pulling headphones on and clicking away on his laptop, immediately zoned in while Baekhyun focuses on the music playing out loud from the phone in his hand.

He’s tempted to peek over his shoulder, see if there’s any real cause to Yixing’s sighs of clear frustration, but Baekhyun faces forward, faces the phone, takes more deep breaths as he clicks over to the next song, uninterested in the first one.

It takes a bit longer than five minutes, and a smile is just growing on Baekhyun’s face as the fourth song he’s skipped to progresses—it’s _perfect_ —when Chanyeol yanks his headphones off with an excited grin. “I knew it would work!” he exclaims.

The loudness makes Baekhyun startle a little, but then he giggles, pressing pause on the phone and making a mental note of the title of the song he’s on. “Let’s hear this idea then,” he urges, leaning toward Chanyeol and the laptop.

When Chanyeol carefully removes the headphone jack from his laptop and presses play, the room fills with the smooth sound of an electric guitar gently building it’s momentum. When it suddenly cuts off, there’s a pause… and then a beat drops.

“Holy shit,” Baekhyun laughs. “Holy _shit,_ this sounds amazing!” Baekhyun shoves at Chanyeol’s arm in disbelief.

“I know, right?! Dude, adding a little bit of a rock element is all we need to make this track work for both of you. I remembered that amazing rock ballad you did in high school this morning and I’ve been thinking about it all day, placing the tracks together in my head, how to adjust them, how to make it suit your ridiculous voice—“

A door slams behind them, startling them both, and Baekhyun swallows before he turns around, confirming that Yixing is no longer in the room, and neither is his bag. Taemin stares at the floor while Chanyeol stares at Baekhyun, whose breath stutters in his throat. This can’t be happening. Yixing can't possibly be _this_ upset.

“Baekhyun, I—“

“Don’t.” Baekhyun faces the keyboard again and rubs at his irritated eyes. “I’m sorry, Chanyeol. I’m sorry he’s being an ass. I’ve never even seen him act this way before, I—I’m sorry.”

Taemin cautiously steps up. “Do you want me to go talk to him, Baekhyunnie?”

Baekhyun shakes his head. “No. Let him go. I want to finish listening to Chanyeol’s song and then I’ll go find him.”

“Okay,” Taemin murmurs, resting a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder and squeezing. “It’ll be okay, you know.”

Baekhyun purses his lips. “Yeah. See you later, hyung.”

Taemin leaves, and Baekhyun and Chanyeol finish listening to the song in awkward silence. It really is amazing, Baekhyun thinks. It would be perfect for him and Yixing, it almost feels like it _is_ them, but…

“Baekhyunnie, are you okay?” Chanyeol quietly asks, making Baekhyun realize that the song has probably been over for a long moment.

“No,” he answers honestly. “But I am sorry. That he’s being like this. That you’re in the middle of it. I’m going to talk to him. Get this settled once and for all.”

“Are you… worried?”

Shaking his head, Baekhyun lets out a trembling breath. “No. He’s my soulmate. I’m his. It’s—There’s nothing to worry about, I just, I just have to get through that thick skull of his, is all. Everything will be fine.”

He hopes.

Chanyeol sighs, but he nods, slowly beginning to pack up his things. “I guess I’m the last person who should be offering this, but if you need anything, I’m here, okay? We were good friends, weren’t we? I miss that.”

“Me too,” Baekhyun whispers, nodding. “Thank you, Chanyeol.”

Standing up, Baekhyun goes to grab his things, but pauses at the door. “Is Kyungsoo around?” he murmurs, sniffling.

“Yeah, he’s waiting in the east parking lot.” Chanyeol frowns. “Why, what’s up?”

“I wanna talk to him.”

“Oh?”

“A civil conversation, I promise. A peace offering.”

“Okay…” 

Baekhyun opens the door. “Oh, and Chanyeol?”

“Yeah?”

“Prepare that track on your phone titled _‘dks3’_ for the next practice.”

He ignores Chanyeol’s confused face and walks out the door.

—————

The breeze gently whips against Baekhyun’s face as he walks away from the cab he hailed and toward his and Yixing’s lookout cliff.

Something told him going home was pointless, that Yixing wouldn’t be there. Baekhyun wouldn’t have been, if the roles were reversed.

As soon as he makes it up the path, he sees Yixing sitting near the edge, in their usual spot of course, and Baekhyun sighs, a touch relieved but still beyond frustrated. 

Without a word, Baekhyun sits on the ground next to his boyfriend, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. “What happened back there?” he murmurs after a moment.

“I don’t know, I—“ Yixing shakes his head. “I didn’t think that seeing you two together would—You two look great together, is all.”

“Don’t do that.” Baekhyun grits his teeth, peering up at the cloudy sky. “There is _nothing_ between us.”

“But there used to be. And that’s—that’s all I see when I look at you sitting together. I see the things you told me about, the things I encouraged. I feel the devastation of knowing you chose to keep kissing him instead of waiting for me and that’s—“

“—Yixing—“

“—that’s not fair of me. I created this situation. I told you over and over again that it was okay, but I guess I was waiting for you to choose on your own to stop your fling but it just kept going until everything collided—“

“I did choose to stop,” Baekhyun whispers, eyes burning and vision going blurry. “But I kept hoping he would suddenly be able to read it on his own, that he would be able to see me the way you do, know what I’m thinking and feeling. It wasn’t fair to any of us that I was too scared to open my mouth. So… this is still on me, I know.”

“I just—“ Yixing turns his head away, hiding his face, and Baekhyun’s tears spill at the sight. “I-I keep waiting for the ball to drop. I keep waiting for you to find someone better than me. I know you love me, but I’m your first everything. I helped you get comfortable with yourself. It’s only natural you’re attached—“

_”Yixing,”_ Baekhyun sobs. “Stop. Stop.” Sorrow floods Baekhyun’s veins until he’s weeping uncontrollably, forehead on his knees and fingernails digging into his legs through his jeans. “Y-You h-have to s-stop,” he pleads. “I could n-never—I could never—“

“I just think—“

_”Stop!”_ Baekhyun scrambles to his feet, stumbling as he goes. His stomach hurts. “Y-You’re it f-for me, Xing—There’s n-no one else—“

Yixing stands too, cheeks stained with his tears. “Then what about—about Jongin, or-or Taemin, or that Jaehyun kid o-or now Chanyeol again—“

“Who do you think I am?” Baekhyun cries, trying to wipe his face with his shirt, but it’s useless; it won’t dry no matter how much he wipes the tears away. “I love _you,_ Yixing! Those people? I’ve never even—I’ve never even _considered—_ they’re my friends!”

“Even Chanyeol? The way you flirt—“

“Flirt?” Baekhyun nearly falls over. “I haven’t—I don’t—Yixing, I only care about you! I love you so fucking much—Am I that bad at showing you that?”

Yixing’s gaze falls to the ground as he minutely shakes his head no. “It’s j-just that—sometimes you look at them like—or you let them hang all over you—and earlier with Chanyeol you just, you got so playful with him—“

Inhaling deeply, Baekhyun takes a minute step closer, voice angry as he asks, “Do you think I flirt with Jongdae and Sehun?”

“What? Of course not—“

“Then what’s the difference, Xing? If anything, I’m way more _flirty_ and affectionate with them than I am with our classmates, so—“

Suddenly, Yixing crumples to his knees. “I don’t know,” he cries. “I don’t know.”

Baekhyun rushes to him, falling to the ground and throwing his arms around Yixing’s neck, tucking his face there and pulling him into a hug. “I don’t want to be with anyone else but you, and th-that’ll never change, Zhang Yixing.”

“I-I’m sorry—“

Baekhyun shakes his head. “I hurt Chanyeol, when you came back. I really hurt him, but he’s happy now with Kyungsoo and I’m happy with you, and he wants to be friends again. I can’t turn down the chance to at least try.” Pulling back, Baekhyun guides Yixing until their foreheads are resting together. “And you have to know that I love you more than anything in this world, Yixing, and I never, ever want anyone to replace you. I know I hurt you, too, and I’m so, so sorry. I’ll never forgive myself for everything that happened last year, and I’ll maybe never make it up to you, either, but I will try. I’ll spend every day for the rest of my life making it up to you if I have to. I love you so much.”

Yixing sniffles and nods against him. “I love you. I love you. I’m sorry.” 

Baekhyun nods before pressing forward until their lips meet. The kiss is wet with their tears, and shaky with their gasps and trembling hands, but Baekhyun knows this is the beginning of their journey to recovery; he knows they’ll get through this.

“I don’t—“ Yixing tries, knocking their foreheads together again. “I never th-thought I’d be a jealous person, I’m so sorry, my Baekhyunnie. I know—I know you would never—I’m sorry.”

They’re hugging again, and Baekhyun holds Yixing so tight he fears he might burst, but he doesn’t stop. “It’s okay, Yixing. I know. It’s okay.”

They rock back and forth, quietly crying into each other’s necks for too many moments to count before Yixing speaks up again. “And… you know—you know I’ll never leave you again, right?”

“What?”

“I just—if we’re on the heavy topics—Minseok spoke with me. About… you, and how you reacted that night I didn’t show up for dinner, and—and the end of last summer.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll never, ever leave you behind again, Baekhyunnie. You don’t ever have to worry about me disappearing on you.” He pauses. “Er, after today. I’m sorry.”

Baekhyun just reinforces his embrace around Yixing, shaking his head. “I guess we both need a little work.”

“That’s why we make the perfect team.”

“Always.”

—————

Baekhyun waits until they’re home and clean and tear-free before he breaks the news he’s been holding in since he got to the lookout cliff.

“Hey Xing…” he starts, latching onto Yixing’s hand before he leaves the bedroom to bring them back some food. “About the concert…”

Yixing frowns, running his fingers through Baekhyun’s hair. “What about it?”

“I… I gave my part to Kyungsoo.”

Yixing takes a step back. “Wh-What?”

Nodding, Baekhyun starts playing with Yixing’s fingers in front of him. “I’m sorry. Especially if it makes you uncomfortable to be alone with Chanyeol, but I—I feel like I owe them this, and I think it makes things easier. And honestly I wasn’t very prepared to perform this soon and I just—I’m sorry I didn’t warn you. It was a spur of the moment decision earlier. I think it’s for the best.”

He glances up, horrified to see Yixing’s eyes filled with tears again. “Baekhyunnie, I’m so sorry—I… oh my god, I’m so sorry—this isn’t fair to you—“

“Hey.” Baekhyun shakes his head. “I didn’t do this to make anyone feel guilty. I wasn’t ready and I want you to have the best debut concert you can possibly have. Kyungsoo can help you do that. Seriously, his voice is amazing, and his specialty is R&B, and Chanyeol can rap, so there’s that too. It’s going to be amazing.”

“Baekhyun…”

“And who knows, maybe without me in the way, you’ll get along with Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. That would be cool.” Baekhyun drops his gaze to his lap. “I’ll perform with you one day, my Yixing. Just not this time.”

Before he knows what’s happening, Yixing’s inner koala is out as he straddles Baekhyun’s lap and wraps himself around him, making him fall back to the bed, trapped under Yixing’s clingy limbs. “I love you. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. This was my decision. And I’ll be in the front row, even if I have to steal the seat from someone else, with signs and my best cheering voice on. I love you, and I can’t wait to watch you kill it.”

—————

_”Where_ is the Yixing sign?! Oh my god that’s the most important one—“

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, idiot, it’s right here—“

“Fuck off Jongdae—“

Sehun sighs. “Why am I friends with you both.”

Luhan emerges from the kitchen. “I have the Chanyeol sign!”

Minseok walks in next. “And I’ve got the Kyungsoo one!”

“Excellent.” Baekhyun grins.

And in the blink of an eye, it seems, Baekhyun and his friends are dominating the front row of the Spring Concert under a starry night sky, light-up and bedazzled signs in their hands, ready to go as the MC, a senior Baekhyun doesn’t know, gets the show started and introduces an opening number the senior class has put together.

Baekhyun feels like he has stars in his eyes, watching them. The way they all sing and dance and are so visibly happy doing what they’re doing. Baekhyun wants that, he wants that for both himself and Yixing. He turns back to find Jongin a few rows back, and sees the same expression on his face, even as the person next to him with their hood up whispers something to him and he grins.

Next is a solo dance from Taemin, to which Baekhyun whips out a Taemin sign from under his seat and holds that up for the duration of it.

“When did he get the time to make all of these signs?” he hears Junmyeon whisper to Jongdae, and Baekhyun just laughs.

A couple of other groups go up and perform, and then it’s finally time for the Freshman Spotlight.

Baekhyun frantically gets signs passed out and makes sure all the lights are turned on and that they’re all turned the right way while the MC drones on about freshmen and opportunities, but finally, finally Chanyeol walks onto the stage, heading straight for his keyboard and laptop setup, tapping the two microphones next to him to make sure they work. He grins when he sees Baekhyun and all of the signs, only shifting his attention when Kyungsoo walks on stage, moving to stand next to Chanyeol. Baekhyun sees his mouth quirk when he sees the signs, and that’s considered a win in Baekhyun’s book.

The song starts and a smile automatically fills Baekhyun’s lips when he recognizes it as the one he suggested Chanyeol prepare. And then Kyungsoo’s voice rings out across the field, low and smooth, an introduction of sorts, and then Yixing walks on stage.

Baekhyun can’t stop the cheer the rips from his chest. Yixing looks so good up there, they all do really; all three are dressed in black, casual clothing that matches each of their styles well. Yixing is wearing that Norma Jean shirt Baekhyun loves so much, and he smiles his Baekhyun smile when he meets Baekhyun’s eyes, but it disappears quickly as the song really begins, and Kyungsoo starts singing after a light beat drops.

The lyrics are about love, old and new, and the way things happen for a reason in life, that you may get hurt, but it also may lead you to exactly where you’re supposed to be.

The song is perfect for Kyungsoo’s beautiful voice and perfect for Yixing’s beautiful dancing, and just overall perfect for them. For all of them, Baekhyun included. He’s crying tears of sadness and happiness all at once somehow by the time the performance is ending. It was flawless, and he knows he’s not biased when he turns around and the whole place is giving them a standing ovation, not just Baekhyun and his friends.

“You could have done that,” Jongdae says, leaning into speak in Baekhyun’s ear.

But Baekhyun shakes his head. “Not like Kyungsoo.”

Yixing blows him a kiss from stage, and then without warning is hopping down from it and bounding over to Baekhyun, nearly toppling his chair over when he throws himself at him for The Kiss of the Century.

More cheers erupt around them and Baekhyun hugs Yixing as close as he can. “You were amazing!” he shouts. “Fuck, you were so amazing, baby!”

Yixing is suddenly kissing him again, with barely parted lips and an insistent nose pressing into his cheek, and Baekhyun would have to be a much, much stronger man to put a stop to it.

Jongdae has to pull them apart after a moment too long, but Baekhyun hears laughter and no one is throwing things at them, so it was definitely worth it.

Cheeks hurting from grinning too much, Baekhyun sits back down in his chair and tugs Yixing down until he’s nestled on the ground between Baekhyun’s legs so they can watch the rest of the show together. 

Baekhyun can’t help but bend over to drape himself around Yixing, looping his arms around his neck and kissing his ear. “I love you,” he murmurs, fully content to stay this way for the rest of the concert.

Yixing leans to the side and turns his head so they can kiss on the lips again. “My Baekhyunnie. I love you.”

“You were so amazing, baby.”

“Mm, I like it when you call me baby.”

Jongdae groans next to them, but Baekhyun giggles, pecking Yixing’s lips again. “Ditto.”

The crowd becomes almost unmanageable when the concert ends, and Baekhyun is almost immediately split up from Yixing, much to his frustration. There’s supposed to be a _plan_ in place here…

Baekhyun edges toward the stage, considering climbing onto it to get a better vantage of the place when he suddenly bumps into Kyungsoo. “Ah!” Baekhyun shouts, eyes wide. “Sorry! I didn’t see y--I lost my boyfriend.”

Kyungsoo snorts, but doesn’t respond, and the silence between them grows thick and awkward before Baekhyun can gather control of the situation.

Until suddenly Kyungsoo is sighing and staring him in the eyes. “Thanks,” he murmurs, the ghost of a smile on his face.

Baekhyun grins. “You were amazing. You deserved that spot way more than I did.” 

“Not really.” Kyungsoo shakes his head. “You earned it. Fair and square.”

“I wasn’t ready for it though. Not yet.” Then after a pause, Baekhyun adds, “I hope we can be friends, Kyungsoo. Someday, at least.”

And somehow, Kyungsoo’s smile grows. “I never hated you, you know.” He glances up, seemingly embarrassed. “I wanted to be your friend so bad that I fucked up being your friend. I never meant to be rude or to glare I just always got flustered around you and also couldn’t see very well.” They both laugh. “I didn’t hate you. I just had a terrible way of showing it. And eventually… I don’t know. I guess I felt like I hated you, because you couldn’t read my mind, but that’s not fair to you.”

With a hand to his heart, Baekhyun says, “I feel like my whole life is a lie…”

And just as Kyungsoo starts to laugh, Chanyeol bounds up like the giant puppy he is and leans down to kiss Kyungsoo’s cheek. “Hey Baek.” He beams. 

Baekhyun waves happily. “The song fit Kyungsoo’s voice perfectly,” he says, grin wide.

Chanyeol laughs. “You definitely chose the right one.”

“Baekhyun chose--?”

“Yeah!” Chanyeol laughs again. “The day he gave the part to you, I was letting him listen to songs for _him_ to sing to, and even after we found the perfect one, in the end he said to prepare this one--” He motions to the stage. “I was confused until you told me what happened.”

Baekhyun shrugs. “As soon as I heard it, I knew it would be perfect for both of them. And I was right, it was amazing.”

“Oh!” Chanyeol exclaims suddenly, peering over Baekhyun’s head. “I see my mom! I’m gonna go grab her before she gets lost.” He turns to Kyungsoo. “Make sure to come say hi, yeah?”

Kyungsoo nods with a clearly nervous grin, only reciprocating Chanyeol’s kiss before turning wide eyes on Baekhyun. Baekhyun giggles. “I guess you haven’t met the parents yet?”

“I met his dad. On accident. But I still haven’t met his mom, no.”

“You’ll do great. She’s pretty much the sweetest woman on earth, honestly.”

Slowly, Kyungsoo nods. “Have you met Yixing’s mom?”

Baekhyun can feel the way his face lights up. “Only via Skype, but that’ll change really soon.”

“It will?” Yixing’s voice rings out behind Baekhyun, and he schools his expression before turning around with a nonchalant shrug to pull Yixing to his side and hug his arm. “It’s just a feeling I have, I don’t know.”

Yixing narrows his eyes at Baekhyun, but he ignores it, grinning wide at Kyungsoo instead. “Go meet Chanyeol’s mom, okay? You’ll be fine.”

Kyungsoo shakes his head, smile shy and cute on his lips. “Thanks, Baekhyun. And… I had fun working with you, Yixing.”

“Anytime, Soo,” Baekhyun responds simultaneously to Yixing’s, “Me too, Kyungsoo.”

When Kyungsoo nervously walks away, Yixing leans his head against Baekhyun’s for a moment. “Have you officially made amends?”

“I think so.” Baekhyun sighs happily, then turns until he’s slipping both of his arms around Yixing’s waist and slumping against him. “What’s your final verdict on Chanyeol, huh?”

Yixing chuckles. “He’s a good guy, you’re right. It wasn’t so bad working with him.”

“Told you,” Baekhyun huffs, fake pout puffing out his lips, but then he smiles. “Have I also told you how amazing you were up there?”

“Once or twice.” Yixing grins.

“Like, you were very sexy.”

“Why thank you.”

“If we weren’t surrounded by people, I’d--”

“Hey Baekhyun! Yixing! Come over here!”

Yixing giggles as he kisses Baekhyun’s _real_ pout. “Later,” Yixing promises, slipping out of Baekhyun’s grip and holding his hand instead so they can walk over to where their friends are huddled up a little ways from the thickness of the crowd.

Baekhyun bites his lip to suppress his grin as they approach, anticipation heavy in his gut when Luhan winks at him. “We found something very interesting while we were waiting for you guys,” he says.

“Some _one,”_ Minseok corrects, and Baekhyun squeezes Yixing’s hand and lets it go as their friends part down the middle and move out of the way, revealing a _very_ familiar face.

Yixing freezes for only a moment. “Mama?” he murmurs in utter disbelief, and then he’s rushing forward and throwing himself at the woman before him.

It’s an emotional enough reunion to make Baekhyun teary-eyed, and he’s wiping away a stray as Mama Zhang breaks away from her son and comes for him instead, wrapping him up in the warmest of warm hugs. “Hello Baekhyun.”

“Hello Mama,” he mutters, tears streaming freely down his cheeks now. Something about the embrace of a mother is what’s making him so emotional, maybe, something he’s never really had.

She rubs his back as a third hand sinks into his hair, scritching his head comfortingly. “I’ve got you. Me and Yixing have always got you.” It’s a long moment before they let go, and even when they do, Yixing’s mother takes Baekhyun’s face in her hands first. “Thank you for taking care of my son.”

Baekhyun nods, lip trembling. “Thank you for having your son.”

Groans sound around him, but Yixing’s mother laughs and kisses his forehead before Yixing is crushing them both in a hug, kissing both their temples, sniffling all the while. “Did you do this, Baekhyunnie?”

Baekhyun nods. “It’s been almost a year since you’ve seen each other. I have plenty of money, a plane ticket is nothing. Jongin sat with her for the show.”

“I’d still like to pay you back somehow, sweetheart.” Mama Zhang pats his back.

Baekhyun wipes his cheek on Yixing’s shoulder and shakes his head. “This is enough. Seeing you both together and happy is enough.”

“Sweet boy,” she mutters, caressing his cheek.

Yixing only tightens his grip on them. “Having my family in one place is--ah, I love you guys so much. Thank you, Baekhyunnie. Thank you, Mama.”

“Anytime,” Baekhyun whispers, kissing his shoulder. “Anything.”

Family, Baekhyun thinks, mulling the word over in his head. He’s considered Yixing and his friends his family for a while now, but there’s something so satisfying in hearing Yixing refer to him as family as well, so affirming.

Yes, he thinks, this _is_ his family now.

**Author's Note:**

> !!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> i hope it wasn't terrible. thank you guys for reading if you've made it this far. ily.
> 
> comments and kudos are always super-duper appreciated <3  
> you can follow me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/baekville).


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